Misplaced
by Stormfire76
Summary: "Yes, Percy was gone. Yes, that was very bad. But didn't anyone care that Katie was missing too?" Set during/right after TLH. Written because Katie Gardner wasn't at the winter solstice's counselor meeting, and Travis Stoll was the only one who noticed.
1. His Worries

**Was I the only one who was confused when Miranda Gardiner was the counselor of the Demeter cabin in TLH, not Katie? I've heard theories that she might just not be a year-round camper, and maybe those are more logical... But this is more exciting. :)**

**So everyone's clear, some of these chapters will be really short (ex. this one). I won't usually have short chapters, but there's a reason for this. Once I've posted about half the chapters, you guys might be able to tell why. :D Anyone who can will get a virtual cookie... But that's for later. Right now, I'm going to post two chapters to make up for how short this one is, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: As far as I know, Rick Riordan isn't female...**

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**His worries:**

_Yes, Percy was gone. Yes, that was very bad. But didn't anybody care that Katie was missing too?_

These thoughts raced through Travis's head as he disappeared into the woods. He was sick and tired of everyone going Percy this and Percy that. Percy was great, of course, and Travis worried about him. But Percy Jackson – son of Poseidon, savior of Olympus, and fighter of epic proportions – could take care of himself. (Not to mention that he had the mark of Achilles, so he basically _could not_ _get hurt_.) Katie Gardner – Demeter's daughter, mediator, and flower-planter – was, however… a different story. Sure, she was decent with a knife, but monster fighting had never been her strength. Keeping the peace was one. Making sure the plants at camp thrived was another. She was the best person to care for the youngest kids and the hardest worker you'd ever meet. And her ability to be there for others, no matter how busy and/or exhausted she was… her ability to listen to people and comfort them and tackle their problems whole-heartedly was maybe her strongest point of all.

Nevertheless, none of those (amazing, wonderful, highly-regarded-in-Travis's-eyes) strengths was, sadly, duking it out with some dangerous beast. So Travis felt he was justified to worry about Katie more than Percy – which was why he currently found himself hurrying through the woods, ignoring the threat of monsters and screaming "Katie!" at the top of his lungs.

He probably should have worried about the threat of monsters a little more.

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**Any thoughts?**


	2. His Memories

**Second chapter of the day! I'm so proud. :P The last author's note was long enough for both chapters, so I'll stop here.**

**Review? **

**Disclaimer: Still not Rick Riordan.**

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**His memories:**

Travis had stuck around Camp Half-Blood for about a week after Katie went missing – the same day Percy had disappeared. He'd noticed the Demeter cabin slightly disheveled, trying to learn what had happened to their head counselor, but they'd gotten Miranda to replace her pretty quickly and without too much fuss. He guessed they'd figured – and they were right, too – that with their camp so worried about their leader, not many people would be concerned about a comparatively unimportant (at least to them) Demeter girl. Some little ones had asked Miranda about Katie, ("Where Kat?" or, more intelligently, "What happened to Katie? Why'd she leave?"), but as Miranda had no answers to give, she'd merely shushed them and sent them off to do something distracting. They'd given up pretty quickly.

Unlike them, Travis had no intention of giving up. He'd talked to Chiron, but he'd been sitting in his office staring at a picture of Percy and had hardly listened to him. His only advice had been, "She's probably off planning some surprise to cheer us up. Don't worry about her, Connor." It'd been the first time Chiron had gotten the brothers mixed up. Travis left quickly, shaking his head, disgusted at how distracted the centaur was.

Other attempts to learn about Katie's whereabouts had been similarly disheartening. Even her ex-boyfriend, Will Solace, didn't have a clue. And worse, none of them had really seemed to care. They put up with the questions because he was Travis and nobody wanted to get pranked for ignoring him, but their minds were obviously miles away. This was most apparent when he asked one of Katie's most fervent admirers, Lacy, and she'd responded with a vague "I don't know". Lacy knew _everything_ about Katie – a development like this was quite upsetting. Then again, Drew had been walking towards her angrily at the time, so the younger girl probably hadn't paid him much attention.

One thing or another distracted_ every single person _at camp. How the heck was Travis supposed to get a search party organized? Besides, any search party he formed would inevitably start looking for Percy instead. He had no chance. No. One. Cared. It was ridiculous.

Finally, he'd had no choice but to go up to Annabeth herself, the most distracted one of all, to ask for help. He'd waited until after Jason, Piper, and Leo left (she'd be _slightly_ less distant) to confront her. "I've got a favor to ask, Annabeth," he said boldly.

She'd only sighed. "Travis, I'm about to leave and go look for Percy. Can it wait?"

"It's _about_ the search." He'd refused to be put off. "I know your priority is to look for him, and I get that. But Katie is missing too, in case you didn't notice." From the horrified expression on her face, he figured she hadn't. "I don't expect you to give up looking for him to try and find her. But if you happen to find out some clue about Katie, do you think you could maybe follow it? Or at the _very_ least, IM me about it, and I can pick up where you left off. Okay?"

After he'd finished, she'd had to sit down. It took a minute for her to process his request, ("Oh. My. Gods. I can't believe I didn't realize… I'm supposed to be observant… How am I supposed to go out like this… I can't even see when my best friend disappears… What the heck is wrong with me?"), but with tears in her eyes, she finally looked up at him.

"Of course I'll look for her too, Travis. Gods, we should have a whole _bunch_ of people searching for her. It's just… well, they're all out…"

"Looking for Percy, I know," Travis nodded. "I'd expect them to. But if you do find something out…"

"You'll be the first to know," Annabeth finished. "And don't worry. I'll have an eye out for her and Percy both. But… I can't promise anything. I don't even know where to start for _Percy_." She shrugged sadly. "I know even less about searching for Katie."

Travis looked away, blinking his eyes furiously. Hoping his voice wouldn't crack, he said, "I understand completely. Well… I'd wish you good luck, but you don't need it. You're the smartest person here. Odds are, you'll find both of them."

"You're right. I'll find both of them." Travis could hear clearly that she didn't believe what she said. Her voice was too soft. When Annabeth was confident about something, she was _confident_. Right now, she didn't think she had a chance. And, as much as Travis hated to admit it, when Annabeth thought something, she was usually right about it.

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Unfortunately, she'd been right once again. When she came back, just before Jason, Piper, and Leo did, her expression had said it all. A bit before dinner, she'd pulled Travis aside, only to tell him that she'd found nothing. _Nothing_. He'd tried to be optimistic about it because that's what Katie would do. "Well, at least I know where not to look now."

She'd almost smiled – which was saying something – and told him, "Yes, don't look in the city. You'll only get mugged."

He'd grinned because that's what Stolls did. When the going got rough, you grinned it off. "Besides, Katie has always been more of the farm girl type anyway. Maybe I'll go upstate."

"Or down to Virginia or something. Think deep South."

"Yee-haw." She'd rolled her eyes, but Travis could tell she was slightly less depressed about the whole thing. He'd managed to cheer her up a little. Katie would be proud.

Then, of course, dinner began, Piper, Leo, and Jason appeared on a table all dramatically, and all talk turned to Percy again. Travis didn't hear Katie's name mentioned once.

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Still, though, he'd put on a brave face for the council meeting, acting like his old pyromaniac self and lighting a Ping Pong ball on fire. If Katie had been there, she'd have been able to stop him. Since she wasn't, no one else even tried. While he'd been messing around with his lighter, though, he'd looked around the table carefully. The mood was strangely light. Even Miranda didn't seem concerned – at least not about Katie. She was rather worried about getting her nose back, though. Only Will seemed as lost in thought as Travis, although, knowing Will, he was probably contemplating some future medical discovery he'd make and not thinking about his ex in the slightest.

Once again, Travis had been disgusted at people's utter lack of caring about Katie. Annabeth was maybe the only one who worried. He was at a bad angle to read her face, but he thought she seemed concerned. Of course, the concern could be directed towards Jason's story about traveling west, going to some wolf's house, fighting giants, realizing he was actually Roman, yada-yada-yada Travis didn't care. So there was a whole other side to the gods that had been kept secret! So Percy was at a Roman camp on the other side of the country! So the Doors of Death are letting evil stuff into the world! So what?! Katie was missing!

It was then that Travis decided that enough was enough. He would have to take matters into his own hands. Someone had to find her. Why not him?

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**Ooh, cliffhanger... ish... **

**Any thoughts?**


	3. His Fights

**I was bored, so I thought: Why not? I'll upload another chapter! Yay! I'll make my two reviewers happy! :) So here you are.**

**Disclaimer: If I was Rick Riordan, Tratie would be canon.**

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**His fights:**

When Travis woke up dangling from a tree, he knew something was wrong. He wasn't usually the one hanging from strange places – he was the one hanging _others_ in strange places. This was a first for him.

_Think, Travis,_ he told himself sternly. _Stop being so ADHD. How did you get here?_ He tried – he really did – but he couldn't figure it out. The last thing he remembered… A bronze cannonball had been hurtling towards him! That was it! And… and he'd ducked, but something had grabbed him and… and pushed him into a tree! Yes! And he'd hit the tree _hard _and had probably passed out then. Well, at least he hadn't been pranked by a fellow Hermes sibling and stuck in this tree. That would've been pretty embarrassing.

Eventually, he started wondering who had put him in the tree, if not his brother Connor (the most likely candidate). It seemed to him that he could vaguely remember Annabeth talking about some Canadian monster that had liked tossing around bronze cannonballs – no surprise there, Travis knew Canadians couldn't be trusted – but he hadn't been paying much attention at the time. Katie had been in the same class, and he'd been busy wondering about… stuff. (He didn't like to get into details.) Man, she'd be disappointed if she could see him now. He could see her now, hands on her hips, brown hair in a loose ponytail, green eyes flashing. Gods, but she was beautiful when she was frustrated with him. (What? You didn't hear that! He hadn't said that! Just… forget all about that sentence. Okay?)

"Travis Conrad Stoll!" she'd say accusingly. (Yes, Conrad was similar to Connor. Well, Connor's middle name was Trenton. So his mom wasn't a very creative name chooser! It wasn't his fault!) "How are you supposed to find me if you don't even know a Laistrygonian from a Cyclops?"

And he'd answer, "Sorry, Katie. You're very distracting." And before she could respond to that, he'd say, "Wait? Lay-stree-goney-whatever? That's what they're called? Thanks, Katie! So… wanna tell me about them?"

"You're hopeless," she'd respond at first, with an eye roll. But she'd soon give in and explain patiently that they grew up to eight feet tall, sported various tattoos, and enjoyed eating people, rather like Cyclopes, except that they didn't need salsa to scarf down a tasty human supper. She'd also tell him that although they were crazy-strong, they weren't very intelligent (much like other monsters) and only fought well in packs. "Split them up, and you've got a chance," she'd conclude. "You can figure out how to do that, right, Travis? After all, I'm _sure _you're more intelligent than a bumbling, idiotic, cannibalistic Laistrygonian. Or am I wrong?"

To which he'd reply that he could be very intelligent, thank you very much – when he was in the mood. "Just look at that prank my cabin pulled on Hypnos two weeks ago, Katie! That was clever, you have to admit. And it was all my idea!"

Then she'd inevitably glare at him and go off about how she was the one who'd had to clean up that mess, as _always_, and why couldn't he just be responsible for _ten minutes_ in his life, and could he go without pulling a practical joke for just one day – _one day_ – but he wouldn't be paying any attention because all he'd be thinking about was how great she was and how he really needed to get the courage up to ask her to go out with him… er, out as in out_side_ so that he could, er, show her that he _could_ do something productive and responsible for more than ten minutes in his life so that he could impress her – er, prove her wrong… Oh, who was he kidding? He liked – _really_ liked – Kathryn Alyssa Gardner, and gods, he hoped she liked him back. But it wasn't until after she'd vanished that he'd realized just how much she'd meant to him. Only now did he discover that he'd looked forward to each minute he'd spent with her, even if she was yelling at him during those minutes, and without that time, his days were far less enjoyable. He found it ironic that she'd wanted him to skip the pranks for just one _day_. She'd been gone for almost two _weeks_ now – and he hadn't pulled one practical joke the entire time. Too bad she wasn't around to see it.

The sounds of grunts and heavy footsteps jolted Travis back to the present. He realized that during his zoning-out-daydreaming-about-Katie session, he'd actually figured out what monsters had him captive, and what he could do about it. Laistrygonians. Go figure. Even when Katie was missing, she was helping people.

So before the Canadian brutes with cannonballs got back to him, he swung around and grabbed onto the rope tying his feet to the tree branch above him. Then he climbed up, thanking the gods for the practice he'd had while messing with other cabins at camp. Less than two minutes later, he was sitting comfortably on the branch and untying the knot around his feet expertly. Less than three minutes later, he had coiled the rope through his belt loops and climbed higher up into the tree's shadows where he hoped the Laistrygonians couldn't see him. He was right.

"Where is he?" one grunted as the monsters (there were seven) finally stumbled their way into the clearing beneath Travis's feet. They'd lit a fire before going off to wherever they'd went, but now the flickering light actually worked in Travis's favor, creating uncertain shadows that kept the monsters from seeing him. The idiots turned in circles, looking for Travis on the ground in vain. A few were even smart enough to turn their eyes to the trees, but he was well concealed. The Laistrygonians had no idea where he could be.

"Argh!" the monster with the most tattoos and biggest muscles said eventually (Travis figured he was the leader). "I want human tonight! Deer is a pathetic excuse for the taste of their flesh!" Travis suppressed a shudder, worried the movement might rustle some leaves and give him away. "So you _will_ get me human! Fan out and search the nearby forest! Come back when you have our prisoner! I'll stay here, in case he comes back." Again, Travis marveled at the stupidity of these creatures. As if _any_ escaped prisoner would _willingly_ come back to their captors! Nevertheless, the Laistrygonians listened to their leader. They all left. This was exactly what Travis wanted.

He waited until the monster's back was turned and then unwound his rope, tied it to one of the thicker branches, and pushed off the side of the tree in nearly silent hops that brought him down to the ground. The leader was busy stacking his bronze cannonballs carefully while crooning to them (it was rather disturbing, actually), and hadn't even noticed. It'd been a simple matter for Travis Stoll, son of Hermes, master of stealth, to edge around the outer rim of trees to where the Laistrygonians had tossed his sword, retrieve it, and tiptoe behind the top Canadian dog without making a sound. Then he stabbed the monster in the back. The monster went poof.

Travis would've left it at that, but he was worried that the other Laistrygonians were anxious about getting human for their leader and would take any stray camper they saw. So he slunk around the forest and dispatched the other six monsters. Then he ran deeper into the woods, still searching for Katie (but quieter), until it got too dark to look for clues. At that point, he ate some junk food he'd packed (he'd actually been prepared for once! Katie would be proud!) and climbed up yet another tree so that he wouldn't be mauled by monsters during the night, tying himself to its trunk with the rope he'd carried with him just to make sure he didn't fall out and break his neck. He'd just been settling in when an Iris message popped up. While his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, he said in surprise, "Annabeth?" Because that was the only person he could think of who would possibly be Iris-messaging him.

"No, it's Katie. Disappointed?"

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**Any thoughts?**


	4. Her Hope

**Let me just say, I'm amazed by how many reviews/follows/favorites I've gotten. You guys' support is awesome! :)**

**Thanks, and here's another chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I were Rick Riordan, why would I be bothering with this website? I would be getting this thing published! :P**

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**Her hope:**

"_Katie_?" Travis squinted at her, obviously blinded a little. "You're… you're okay? You're okay! Yes! You're safe! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Katie blushed a little, hoping he was too surprised to notice. He'd been looking for her? Then she brushed the thought aside and got down to business. "Well, I'm not exactly _safe_, Travis. Um, this is going to sound really weird, but the earth goddess – totally unfair because I'm Demeter's daughter, I mean seriously, I love the earth – trapped me in mud and I'm kind of sinking slowly. I think it's supposed to be, like, torture or something, but the only thing that's really bothering me is that I'm really hungry – they only bother feeding me once every two or three days – and suffocation isn't exactly my preferred way to die, if you know what I mean."

He was silent for a while, probably trying to process her news. "Not dying at all would be better…" he said finally.

She raised an eyebrow. "So, that's what you say first? You aren't surprised by the whole Gaea kidnapped me and I'm trapped in mud deal?"

He shrugged. "A lot of weird stuff has happened recently. Percy disappeared too – which sadly means that other people are too busy looking for him to look for you – and a couple of older-than-usual new demigods showed up about a week ago with weirdly strong powers who are probably going to be part of the new Great Prophecy, and the Roman gods are still around and having kids, so apparently there's a whole other group of _Roman_ demigods out there-"

"Whoa, wait, slow down!" Katie said, yanking a hand out of the mud to hold it up at him. "_Percy's_ disappeared? The Great Prophecy is coming true _right now_? There are _Roman_ demigods?"

"Erm, yes, not _right now_ but soon, and apparently."

"…Gods."

"Oh yeah, and the gods won't talk to us, and there are a bunch of giants around now who are trying to take over Olympus, not the new one but the original one in Greece," Katie tried to interrupt him but he shook his head at her, "but that's not important at the moment, what's important is that I _find you_ soon before you experience firsthand death by suffocation."

She couldn't help smiling. "Giants are trying to take over Olympus, but that's not important?"

"No! Now where are you?"

"In a mud slide in Africa."

"Seriously, Katie!"

Her grin subsided. "Seriously? I don't have a clue. It's not like they just toted me along, saying 'Look at the sights, Katie! Here's Rochester, and now we're crossing the border into New Hampshire, and oh look! We're in Arizona!'"

He scratched his head. "I think you have your geography mixed up, Kathryn Alyssa Gardner."

She refrained from yelling at him for saying her full name out loud. She could hear someone – or some_thing_ – coming, and she knew she didn't have much time. "Okay, whatever. All I know is that I'm somewhere that's had a huge flood recently, I can't be more than four hours from camp-"

"Using which method of travel?"

"Oh, I don't know, Gaea Transports Incorporated," Katie said sarcastically. "Okay, I can't be more than _200 miles _from camp, and I'm out in a rural area because I can't hear any traffic and I don't see any cities in the distance, and there are tons of monsters around so if you see what looks like a cult gathering of Greek terrors, you've found me. Now, I think one of those Greek terrors is coming to check on me, so I've got to go." She raised a hand to swipe through the image.

"Wait! Katie!" Travis's voice sounded so… unlike himself that she did. "I… I promise I'll find you, okay? And we'll kick a lot of monster-"

"Travis…"

"_butt_ together once I get you out. Gaea will wish she never messed with us." He grinned at her. "See you soon, Kathryn Alyssa Gardner."

"Likewise, Travis Conrad Stoll," she smiled back. Then he ended the Iris-message – just in time, because a larger-than-average sized Cyclops came into view seconds later. She obligingly let out a couple screams for mercy and flailed around a little to make him happy, but secretly, she was grinning. She had hope for the first time in two weeks.

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**Any thoughts?**


	5. His Preparations

**Thank you thank you thank you to all my reviewers/followers/favoriters! Okay, I know that last one wasn't a word, but that's okay - I'm allowed to use made-up words in author's notes, just not in the actual story... right?**

**Anyways, thanks again, and have a chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Still female. Still not Rick Riordan. :)**

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**His preparations:**

After ending the Iris-message, Travis was pumped up on adrenaline and way too worried about Katie to sleep. Instead, he untied himself and sprinted back to camp. He needed to use a certain daughter of Athena's laptop.

The two-mile run was no problem for Travis. He reached camp in about twelve minutes. It was still dark. Ignoring the rule about waking other cabins up rudely before 5 a.m., he ran over to Cabin 6 and banged on the door four times (because three was cliché). Exactly nineteen seconds later (Travis was bouncing from foot to foot each second, counting, to relieve his ADHD need to _do_ something), Annabeth opened the door, blond hair in a vague representation of what _might_ have once been a ponytail. "What in Hades, Travis?" she whisper-shouted. "It's three-freaking-twenty-seven in the _morning_! Couldn't it wait?"

"I need to use your laptop," he said quickly, still bouncing. "It's about Katie."

That was it. The magic word. _Katie_. She sighed. "Just a second." She came back – actually _seven_ seconds later – and they sat on the grass outside her cabin ("so that _someone_ in there might actually go back to sleep").

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Travis said as he pulled up Google and typed in "recent flash floods in New England". "And thank you Daedalus for making your laptop monster-proof."

"So why are you looking at" – Annabeth squinted at the screen – "recent flash floods in New England?"

While he read through the results – his dyslexia actually not bothering him for once, thank the gods – he explained to Annabeth about Katie's Iris-message. "And that's why I'm looking for places covered in mud in the middle of nowhere less than 200 miles from camp."

She nodded, not even annoyed at him for waking her up anymore. "There can't be many of those around."

"Yeah, I hope so – Yes! Look!" he said excitedly, not bothering to keep his voice down. "'New Jersey Mudslide After Flash Flood Thankfully Leaves No One Injured'! It's in the middle of a section of abandoned farms! That must be it!"

Annabeth shushed him. "I know! That's great!" she whispered quickly. "But do you have to wake up the entire camp?"

"Oh yeah," he said as an afterthought. "That's probably a bad idea…"

She rolled her eyes. "So… how are you going to get there?"

He smirked. "Look at this. 'Tour buses run daily from New York City to the area.' I think I'll go site-seeing."

Thirty-eight minutes later (He didn't count this time! He just saw the clock on Annabeth's laptop!), they'd worked out a route for him to take to get to New York the fastest, and Travis had grabbed some of his cabin's mortal money stash (so that he could afford the bus) and a few magical items he had a feeling would come in handy later. "I would come with you," Annabeth began, as they figured out the last details, "but…"

"They're just getting started on the warship, and they might need your brains, not to mention that with Percy gone, you're kind of our backup leader," Travis grinned. "No, I get it. This is more of a solo mission anyway."

She sighed and then offered a last bit of Athena-daughter-wisdom. "Don't get yourself killed, and find Katie before… well, you know. Bring her back safely."

He mock-saluted her. "No problem for a son of Hermes!" Then he was gone.

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**Sooo... Any chance I could get some more reviews for this chapter? :) Thanks!**


	6. His Journey

**Once again, thanks for the reviews! You guys rock!**

**Disclaimer: Travis Stoll is based on an actual person (I'm serious; check the acknowledgments in TLT), so I _can't_ own him... And oh yeah, I don't own any other PJO characters either.**

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**His journey:**

Getting to the tour bus was a piece of cake –a terrifying, nightmare-inducing piece of cake maybe, but still. He just dropped a drachma in the road to call on the local taxi service – the Gray Sisters – and tried not to fly out the window as they grappled for their eye or tooth.

"Wasp! Wasp! Give me the eye now!" one said. It didn't have the eye or the tooth. "You had it yesterday!"

"No, give _me_ the eye!" another shouted – the one with the tooth. "I'm the one driving! Besides, Tempest, _you_ had it yesterday!"

"The eye is mine!" Wasp shrieked. "Not _yours_, Tempest, and not _yours_, Anger! It's _my_ turn!"

Travis sighed and then yelled over all of them. "Will you just _stop_ _arguing_, give the eye to the _driver_, and then get me to the tour bus before we _crash_? I'd prefer to face an army of monsters in reasonably good health, if you don't mind."

"Listen to the boy, Wasp!" Anger cackled. "Give the eye to the driver!"

"If the driver should have the eye, then maybe I should drive!" Wasp spit back. She launched herself at Anger, trying to get a grip on the steering wheel. Meanwhile, Tempest was going off on a rant about how Anger didn't deserve the eye because she had the tooth already, and didn't _anyone_ care that it was _her_ turn? At the same time, Anger and Wasp had advanced into an all-out catfight, stepping on the gas pedal the whole time, and Travis was screaming at them at the top of his lungs.

"Will someone grab hold of the steering wheel and _drive_ already? Look out for that motorcycle! Watch the other taxi! Can't you _see_ that that bus is about to _run us over_?"

"_No_!" all three sisters shrieked at him. "Because _you_ have the eye!"

"What? _Me_?" Then Travis looked down and almost threw up all over the eye sitting in his lap. During their fight, Anger must have clawed out Wasp's eye and sent it flying over to him. "Agh! Get this thing off me!"

"Gladly! Just give it here!" Tempest cried.

"No, give it _here_!" the other two yelled together. "Before we accelerate into oblivion!" Anger added.

With a gulp, Travis realized that they really were about to accelerate into oblivion – the oblivion of three oncoming cars and two double-decker buses. Ignoring how entirely disgusting the eye was, he picked it up and flung it at Anger, the sister mostly in the driver's seat. Somehow, she managed to catch it, stuff it in one of her sockets, yank the smoky gray taxi car to the side to avoid the traffic, and slam on the brakes before they ran into the building. When Travis's stomach finally calmed down, he slumped into the seat in relief.

"No time for resting, boy!" Tempest told him. "That red double-decker is the bus you need!"

_The one that almost ran me over just now? Terrific_, Travis thought grumpily. But he obligingly fished out another drachma, tossed it to Wasp, who immediately started badgering Anger again ("Give me the tooth so I can bite it! You have your eye – now hand over the tooth!"), and climbed out before their argument could involve him somehow. Then he waved down the double-decker bus and paid for a ticket to New Jersey, thanking the gods that the Gray Sisters taxi service only picked up demigods in "Greater New York and its surrounding communities", as Annabeth had told him. He didn't think he could've taken much more of that kind of driving. He would've had a heart attack before he could get to Katie.

Two hours later, however, as the bus was stuck wheel-deep in mud, Travis would've given anything to get the Gray Sisters again. He bet anything Gaea was the one sabotaging his ride, and the only reason the Gray Sisters hadn't been bogged down was that – well, you can't exactly get a car made out of smoke stuck in the mud. _Now what am I going to do?_ Travis wondered as he stood in the grass on the side of the road. Even now he was sinking slowly, and he knew that somewhere on that mudslide site, Katie was doing the same. He didn't know how much longer she had, and he didn't want to find out. He just wanted to find _her._

Which is why he found himself walking over to the surly, muscle-bound bus driver to ask for directions. "How much longer would it be to get to the site?" Travis asked boldly, while the man scratched his head at his sunken vehicle.

"Eh? Kid, what're ya doing out here?" he answered grumpily. "I'm trying to figger out how in the name of all that's good in this world this could happen to my bus, and yer asking fer directions?"

"Just tell me how much longer, and I'll leave you alone," Travis promised.

"An hour. By bus."

"And by foot?"

"By foot?" the man laughed. "Kid, it's forty miles. If ya wanna walk that, be my guest. It'll take ya a week or more." Then he grew surly again. "Now leave me alone. I have more important things ta do."

Of course, Travis didn't let a little setback like breaking down forty miles from his destination stop him. He just hitchhiked all the way there, changing cars every five or so miles before a monster could catch up or Gaea could force it into the ground. The people letting him in their cars thought it was a little strange when he'd ask to be let out in the middle of nowhere, but they didn't ask too many questions. He thought they were really kind of glad they didn't have to keep him in their cars for too long. Only one family actually enjoyed having him. When he asked to get out, the dad said, "Are you sure you don't want to stay for longer?" And the two little boys were super persuasive, shouting, "Stay Tavis! Stay Tavis!" over and over. They were the first mortals to be excited about an ADHD demigod teenager occupying the same general space as them that Travis had seen in… a _long_ time, and he ended up staying for a few more miles than he had intended. But, eventually, he did have to get out. (The mom was complaining about the transmission having problems and slowing them down, but Travis knew what the _real_ cause was, and he didn't want Gaea getting involved with such a nice, normal family.) So he left them, just as he left the other seven cars that ultimately brought him to his destination. To the mudslide. To the monsters. And most importantly… to Katie.


	7. His Situation

**Okay, this chapter is ridiculously short, I know. Like, embarrassingly short. But like I said at the beginning, there's a reason that some chapters are like this. And we're almost to the point where you might be able to tell why! :) **

**Besides, I'm going to post another chapter in about a minute, so don't worry. You're not going to be stuck with just this one...**

**Disclaimer: Fine! I'll admit it! I don't own PJO, HoO, or any of the characters in either of those series.**

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**His situation:**

He might have arrived, but it wasn't all simple from there (though Travis wished it could be that easy). After all, there was the small matter of an army of monsters getting in the way. And Katie – dear, sweet, wonderful Katie – was smack-dab in the middle of all the action.

So Travis needed a plan. It was a good thing that sons of Hermes were good at coming up with plans.

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**Pretty sure the author's notes are longer than the actual chapter... :P **


	8. His Rescue

**I think this is more like the length you guys were expecting... XD**

**Disclaimer: See last chapter. :)**

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**His rescue:**

"Where are my cannonballs?" a very angry Laistrygonian yelled out to nobody in particular. "Who took my cannonballs?"

"No one, you idiot," some creepy rhino-snake crossbreed (Travis didn't want to get into details) answered in annoyance. "You probably mistook them for toilet paper and shoved them up your-" _Ooh,_ Travis thought. _Katie would definitely yell at that monster for his use of vulgar language._

"What did you say?" the Laistrygonian shouted. "_What did you say?_ _You_ probably stole the cannonballs, Terrictone!" What kind of name was that? Travis had no idea, and really had no desire to find out. "Or maybe you did? _Mastric_!" He yelled at what looked like a male _dracaena_. Travis decided not to look too much closer. Instead, he reveled in the glory of how well his plan was working. "Did _you_ take my cannonballs?" He chucked a rock at the thing's head. Suffice it to say, the monster did _not _appreciate that.

Before long, the argument had escalated into a massive brawl as random monsters started getting involved. There were cannonballs being thrown, ("Are those _my_ balls you're chucking? Grr! I'll get them back! You'll see!"), punches and kicks being aimed, Celestial bronze swords and weapons being drawn, and poisonous saliva being spit. Travis looked down at the bronze cannonballs at his feet and smiled. It was one of his better pranks, if he did say so himself.

But he couldn't enjoy the victory for long. He had work to do. So instead, he hurled one of his stolen projectiles as far as he could, (they were way heavier than they looked, he knew. He was only able to throw it about twenty feet… but it was long enough), disintegrating a monster on the spot; tossed another few to the side, hitting a pile of their weapons and melting them into bronze goo; and sprinted off to look for Katie while they were distracted.

He found her being guarded by three average-sized Cyclopes. She was up to the tops of her shoulders, with one arm lying on top of the mud encasing her, and she didn't see him hiding behind a boulder conveniently placed about three feet away. Luckily, the Cyclopes didn't spot him either… so it was a simple matter to dash back to his stash of metallic spheres, stick three in his backpack (which probably burned all of the mortal money in there, but Travis had more important things to worry about), speed back to Katie, and chuck his burning weapons at the enemy, thanking Hermes for the fireproof gloves he'd sent Travis for his fourteenth birthday present. They'd come in handy for several flame-or-firework-related pranks, and they were proving their usefulness once again. Travis had a feeling that they might have been the best present he'd ever gotten, except for maybe the hug he'd gotten from Katie last year… _Focus, Stoll, focus!_ He yelled at himself angrily. _You have a daughter of Demeter to rescue from mud._ In the next three seconds, he had dropped his sword behind the boulder and was as close to her as he could get without sinking. It didn't look good.

For one, a few monsters had realized that the fight had all been a diversion and were looking for the pesky demigod that had started the trouble. Also, Katie was submerged up to her chin and was barely keeping her head from sinking. Gaea was speeding up – she must've known Travis was close to reaching her. "Katie!" he cried when he saw her.

She smiled back at him, clearly relieved that he'd made it. "Travis! I figured you were the one getting rid of my bodyguards!" She sunk another inch, and her grin disappeared. "Now could you get rid of all _this_?" She gestured at the mud with her arm, now only halfway out of the gunk.

Travis's eyes flitted around, looking for something to throw to her. "Sure thing, Katie. Just give me a sec."

She sunk another inch and squeaked slightly. "I don't _have _another second, Travis! Hurry it up! Please?"

"Um, okay," he said, totally distracted by the spear that had just whistled by his ear. "Er…" _A spear had just whistled by his ear!_ He picked it up, close to the metal point, and held out the other end to Katie… but it fell a few feet short. He cursed. "It doesn't reach, Katie!"

She bit her lip and then dropped a bit more. She could barely open her mouth. Then her eyes lit up. "Your rope, Travis!" she told him… right before her mouth was swallowed by the mud.

Now it was his turn for his eyes to light up. In a quick movement, he pulled the rope out of his backpack. It was slightly charred and smoking and the end was on fire, but he smeared it with mud and the flames went out. "Katie!" he said excitedly. "I think this will work!" He tied the rope to the spear and looked over at her. His hope vanished. Her arm had disappeared into the mud as well. There was no way she could hold onto a rope or spear. He gulped worriedly… and then grinned. It was a good thing he was a son of Hermes. They always had a Plan B.

He stuck the spear firmly into the ground, tied the rope around his waist, and waded into the mud. Katie looked at him nervously as Gaea pulled at him, trying to suck him down too, but he was too determined to let a small obstacle like an angry earth goddess get in his way. He just kept going doggedly, not even slowing or crying out when Katie's nose became hidden. Her eyes were beginning to show panic, but Travis stayed uncharacteristically calm and steady, going as fast as he possibly could. Still though, he couldn't stop himself from yelling, "_Katie!_" when she sunk so far that her eyes were covered – then he pushed himself even harder and reached her in just three seconds.

"Katie! Katie… Katie… oh gods, Katie, please be okay… I'm here, Katie…I'm here…" He was babbling as he reached into the mud where Katie had been just moments ago and couldn't feel her. He pushed his hands deeper and deeper and deeper, not even noticing as he began to sink to his waist. Then, finally, he felt her shoulders, grasped her arms, and _pulled_ her up as fast as he could (he almost started hyperventilating because "as fast as he could" was _so_ slow) until he'd yanked her out almost to her hips. "Katie! Katie!" he yelled as he saw her face, terrifyingly pale and still. "You're going to be okay, Katie… I promise… I've got you…" He cleared the mud away that covered her face and stared, worried, as she didn't start breathing. What was he supposed to do now? _What was he supposed to do?_ He couldn't lose _Katie_!

Then he remembered. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, pushing air in and out of her lungs himself. He was a little self-conscious about kissing her without permission… but he thought that under the circumstances, she'd understand. One horribly scary minute later, his efforts were rewarded by a spluttering, gasping, half-conscious Katie. She looked up at his blearily as he hugged her in relief. "Travis…? You… _what_ did you just _do_?"

He gulped, expecting her to be mad. "I'm sorry… but… you weren't breathing…"

Her mental fogbank seemed to clear a little, and she managed to smile up at him. He almost dropped her, he was so surprised that she wasn't angry… but he didn't. He would never let go of her. "It's _okay_, Travis," she said happily. "I think… I think it would be nice if you'd do that while I was conscious sometime."

He stared at her in total amazement. "You mean… you… like…?"

She grinned. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Oh, thank gods. I like you too."

"_Aw_… Travis, I think that may be the most emotional and romantic thing a guy has ever said to me," she laughed. Then she paused and looked down, a strange expression crossing her face.

"What?" he said. "Are you having second thoughts or something? 'Cause, you know, I can deal with the whole just-friends deal if you really want…"

"Huh?" she said as she looked back up at him. Then the side of her mouth twisted up in an adorable little half-smile. "I'm not having _second thoughts_, Travis. I just think that maybe you should get out of here before you sink any further."

Only then did Travis realize that Gaea had pulled him down up to his chest while he'd been rescuing Katie. He muttered a few choice words, then said, "Yeah. I think maybe I _should_. Come on, hold onto me and I'll start back."

"No! I am perfectly capable of pulling myself!" Katie insisted.

"Don't argue, Kathryn Alyssa Gardner. You just almost _died_, plus _I'm_ the one with the rope, _plus_ you can barely _breathe_ right now, _plus_ we don't have time to discuss it. _Just hold on and let me take us both_."

As he said this, he dropped another two inches. Kathryn Alyssa Gardner decided not to argue. She slipped her arms around his neck, and he started walking.


	9. Their Escape

**Yay for reviews! XD You guys are amazing. :)**

**Oh, and we're at the halfway point now! Yay for that too! :D That means soon you guys can start guessing at what the pattern of this story is... Anyone who guesses correctly in a review will earn a virtual cookie (::) and a virtual pie (#). :) **

**Okay, that's all! Have a chapter! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

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**Their escape:**

Katie could hardly believe what had just happened to her. While she'd been under the mud for those awful minutes before Travis got to her, Gaea had explained to her how she was going to be too crucial to the success of the demigod forces for the earth goddess to let her live. "I hope you understand, dear daughter of Demeter," she'd told her in that creepy ancient voice. "It's not that I don't like you _personally_. It's just that… you're going to get in the way of my _plans_ if I let you live." Katie remembered thinking that Gaea had a stone-cold heart and a ruthlessness she'd never really encountered before. Then she'd drifted into that dark, life-devoid place where the almost-dead went. She was just glad that Travis had saved her before she'd gone from almost-dead to totally-dead. That wouldn't have been very fun.

Now he was wading back through the mud, pulling on the rope little by little to tug them through without sinking too much deeper. She couldn't believe how strong he was being. She didn't think that she'd be able to survive a ride with the Gray Sisters, hitchhike forty miles, figure out a plan to distract an army of monsters long enough to rescue someone from mud, execute the plan perfectly, defeat that someone's bodyguards, wade through the mud to reach the person while being bogged down by Gaea, pull that person out when they were two feet below the surface, bring the person back to life, and wade back with the earth goddess _still_ pulling them down. (Travis had explained his adventures between spurts of hard breathing from walking against the powers of a very ticked-off earth goddess and cussing at said earth goddess.) "You really are incredible, Travis," she told him. "You know that, right?"

"Aw, you're just saying that because I saved your life," he said. "Just wait. Tomorrow, you'll be yelling at me for bugging some cabin with some prank." But she noticed the pleased smile he tried to hide.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Tomorrow, you're asking me out properly and taking me on a date."

His smile widened. "Do I have to wait until tomorrow?"

"You will if you keep stopping like this," she teased.

"I'm tired! If you want to complain, then maybe _you_ should do it!"

She shrugged, said, "Okay," and let go of him.

Immediately, he grabbed one of her hands with his free one and put it on his shoulder. "I was _kidding_! Hold on again… _please_?"

"Since you asked so nicely…" she said, and wrapped her arms around him again. Only then did he start off again, ignoring the extra few inches he'd sunk. And only then did she lean her head against his shoulder and smile secretly, making sure he couldn't see. She'd never known he cared this much.

Eventually, they did reach the end of the mud, and Travis ordered her to hold onto the spear jutting out of the ground so that she wouldn't sink too far while he climbed out. It took him the better part of ten minutes to do that, slowly yanking himself out of Gaea's arms and onto land he wouldn't disappear into – at least, not as fast. Then it was Katie's turn, and with his help, she finally, _finally_, **_finally_** got out of the mud lake she'd been stuck in for the last two weeks. It felt so strange to be able to move freely, without each movement taking a crazy amount of effort. She was so overwhelmed that she just collapsed into him, almost _sobbing_ from relief. He held her tightly for ten, twenty seconds, promising her that everything would be okay. But after twenty-five seconds, he let go of her and propped her up. "You've got to be strong now, Katie," he whispered. "We're not out of this yet." Of course, at that very moment, a bronze cannonball came screaming towards her head (why was it that those were the weapons everybody seemed to be using?) and Travis reached out and caught it with his fireproof gloves just in time. Then he threw it back towards the monster and disintegrated it. And it was about then that Katie noticed the rest of Gaea's army slowly marching towards them. "See what I mean?" Travis said. He pulled a dagger out of his backpack and handed it to her. "Now come with me!" He jumped up and grabbed her free hand, hauling her up as well. Then he started running. Katie didn't have time to question him much. If she hadn't started running too, she didn't doubt that he would've just dragged her along.

They ended up behind a gigantic boulder about twenty feet away. As Katie heard cannonballs and spears and rocks and other projectiles hurtling into their barrier, Travis picked up a sword that he must've left behind when he went to get her. He looked at her worriedly. "Time to go. You ready for this?"

She grinned – maybe a little hysterically, but under the circumstances she thought he'd understand. "Ready? I'm _excited_. Let's run." They ran.

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Travis hadn't thought Katie was the greatest fighter. Sure, she was decent with a knife, but monster fighting had never really been one of her strengths. …Until today, apparently. She slashed and stabbed and twirled and destroyed Greek terrors like a pro. And she didn't look the least bit tired, even though she hadn't been able to really move for two weeks and was suddenly being thrown into battle. He guessed revenge and adrenaline were good ways to keep your energy up.

He supposed he wasn't doing too bad either. He'd dispatched his fair share of Greek terrors as well. Of course, he was pumped up on adrenaline and was getting revenge, just like Katie. So maybe it made sense.

"Not bad, Stoll," Katie laughed as he bashed in the head of a weird creature made of wheat that was pelting seeds at him. It burst into grainy particles.

"I thought you'd be upset," he teased, "daughter of the wheat goddess and all."

"Somehow, I don't think Demeter will mind," Katie grinned. She then took care of a couple of the things herself. Travis raised an eyebrow, even as he was fighting a _dracaena_ (female this time, thank goodness). This was a side of Katie he didn't think he'd seen before. She used to be calm and rational basically all of the time (unless she was telling him off for pulling a prank, of course), and she loved all kinds of plants, no matter what. New Katie was a little wilder, and she was _destroying_ plants and _smiling_ as she did it. Then again, they were evil plants… but still. It worried him a little, but he tried not to let it break his concentration. _These things almost killed her, _he reminded himself. _She's probably letting out her frustration from the last two weeks. After we get back to camp, she'll get back to normal, I'm sure. I'm sure… right? _He shook his head and finished off the _dracaena_. _Of course I'm sure._

Just then, he saw Katie go down out of the corner of his eye. He whirled towards her, slicing apart five of the monsters closest to him as he did so. "Katie!" he yelled. "Are you okay?" Oh gods, he'd come too far to lose her now…

But she was already getting up. "I'm okay, Travis," she promised. "Just tripped… That's all." Right away, she started fighting again. Still, Travis noticed that her wild side had calmed down a little. She was taking out monsters the same as before, totally lethal… but she'd stopped attacking the wheat things. Already, she was getting back to the Katie he knew and loved. (Er… you know, as a figure of speech. He _liked_ her, but he didn't _love_ her, obviously. That would be, like, major commitment. Sons of Hermes didn't really do _commitment_. Still, she was _Katie_… oh, never mind.) Travis was glad to see that the craziness-almost-verging-on-insanity wasn't permanent. But then again, that brought on a whole other kind of worry. As her adrenaline slowed down, as she tuned back in, would her fighting skills stay top-notch? Or would she slow down in that area as well? Absent-mindedly, he thrust his sword through a random monster's stomach and decided he'd just keep an eye on her (as if he wasn't doing that already…). He didn't have time to worry without good reason. That became very clear when a vicious hellhound lunged at him and scraped its claws across his chest before he could stab it. He really needed to be more careful.

Katie and Travis were fighting diligently, slowly making their way towards the paved road (where Gaea couldn't get them) and freedom. Travis was getting tired, and he was sure Katie was too, but neither of them was ready to show it. So instead, Travis kept up a constant stream of chatter, talking about his Greatest Pranks of All Time (it was the first thing that popped into his head, okay?), and Katie broke in occasionally with comments about how she'd saved him from Dionysus's fury after this prank had gone haywire, and how she'd stopped the Ares cabin from starting a war after that prank had utterly humiliated them… and the list went on. Somehow, their banter kept both of them from giving up – at least, it kept Travis from giving up, and it seemed Katie wasn't going to call it quits until he did, so all in all it kept both of them from giving up – and Travis finally had hope that they'd actually make it out alive. He turned to tell Katie that – had opened his mouth to start – when he saw an angry giant humanoid-thing with four arms and a very big ax run towards her. Travis was five feet away, with three or four monsters blocking him… he yelled out, "Katie! Behind you!" and dashed towards her. He was singularly focused on keeping her safe… so he didn't see when a Cyclops with a hammer came up behind him and knocked him over the head. As he fell to the ground, eyes rolling up in his skull, he wondered why he wasn't helping her… and why everything was turning so dim and hazy. And then everything went from dim and hazy to black, and he couldn't wonder anything else.

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**Any thoughts?**


	10. Her Rescue

**Thanks for all the reviews, guys! There's really nothing I can add to that...**

**So have another chapter! :)**

**Disclaimer: *sigh* I wished on a star... But my wish hasn't come true yet. I own nothing but the plot. (At least for now... ;)**

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**Her rescue:**

Katie didn't see Travis fall. She only heard him shout, "Katie! Behind you!" She followed his advice and turned around, just in time to see the ax coming down towards her. She rolled out of the way, hopped behind the giant-thing, and stabbed him in the back before he had time to react. He went poof.

"Thanks for the save, Travis," she smiled, turning back to where he'd been. It confused her when he wasn't there. "Travis?" Then she saw him, on the ground, monsters crowding around him with all sorts of dangerous-looking weapons. "Oh gods…" she whispered. "Travis…what _happened_?"

"So this is the cannonball thief!" a brute of a Laistrygonian bellowed, sauntering up to the circle and shoving his way through. "I said I'd get him, and I did! And now he will pay!" He grabbed the nearest monster's weapon – a hammer – and brought it down on Travis before Katie had time to blink. Was it her imagination, or did she hear a crack? She didn't have a moment to think about it. The Laistrygonian was about to hit Travis again. So Katie did the first thing she could think of to keep him safe.

"He didn't steal your cannonballs!" she yelled. "I did!"

Immediately, the Canadian monster turned and glared at her. "You…?" he said incredulously. "But you're… you're just a girl!"

"For your information, I'm not _'just a girl'_," Katie shot back, offended. "I'm a daughter of Hermes." She'd never lied like this before… In her family, lying was probably the very worst thing you could do. But if she was lying to save Travis's life, she figured it wasn't so bad. He'd saved her. Now it was time to return the favor. "I'm sure even a thick-skulled idiot like yourself knows what that means? I could steal anything. I could take that hammer out of your hand without your even noticing," she boasted, hoping he couldn't notice how hard she was shaking inside. _Come on, Travis, _she thought desperately. _Get up and run, now, while they're distracted. Come on, you can do this. Get up, you idiot Stoll! Oh gods, please be okay. Get up!_

"Out of my hand, you say?" the Laistrygonian snorted. "I don't think so. But here. I'll _give_ it to you!" He leaned back and threw the monstrous hammer straight towards her head.

But Katie was quick. She ducked and returned the throw, hurling her knife towards him in a perfect arc. He was too brutish to avoid it like she had. It hit his heart… and he burst into glittering golden dust.

Unfortunately, to Katie's astonishment, he instantly started reforming, the dust clumping together once more. Before he could totally come back to life, however, she ran forward and kicked the tornado of dust, letting the particles fly in all different directions so that they couldn't swirl together properly. When he had been properly dispersed, she picked up her knife and turned to the rest of the monsters that surrounded her. "Who else wants to try me? Huh? Who else wants to stand in the way of a daughter of Demeter?"

"I thought you were a daughter of Hermes!" a Cyclops, the one whose hammer had been grabbed by the Laistrygonian, growled. "Which are you?"

Katie thought fast. "Both," she said loudly. "I'm both."

"But that meanssssss…" a _dracaena_ said in astonishment.

"Yes, I'm a god," she yelled out defiantly. _Please don't destroy me, gods everywhere. Please don't destroy me,_ she prayed silently at the same time. _I'm just trying to save Travis. _"Yeah, I'm a _god_! You can't kill me. So who wants to try?"

Apparently, no one did. They watched her silently as she dragged Travis to his feet, held onto him tightly, refusing to let him fall, and pointed her knife at them, acting the part of slightly crazy god as well as she could. "No. One. Follows. Me. Have you got that through your pea-sized brains? _No one_."

"Yes, ma'am, goddess, ma'am," a few monsters promised obediently. She almost could've laughed. Who would've thought that an army of monsters would ever mistake her for a god? It was terrific! But she wasn't free yet. She hoisted Travis up once more and started forward, deliberately proud and slow, hoping she looked godly. Every once in a while, she would look over her shoulder and shoot godly death glares at the flabbergasted monster army, daring any of them to go after her. She played the part so well that none of them even tried. She reached the road without incident and walked a few miles away so that she was out of sight, finding strength she didn't know she had to carry Travis along with her. Finally, she deemed herself far enough away from everything. She laid Travis down in the tall grass beside the road, where no cars could see them, and sat down next to him, pulling off his backpack to see what he'd taken with him. And slowly, ever so slowly, she let out a sigh of relief. They were free. They were safe. At least, as safe as demigods ever got.

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**Any thoughts?**


	11. Her Situation

**Thank you soooo much, guys! ****_45 reviews?_**** I'm impressed. :D**

**Have another chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. **

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**Her situation:**

That didn't make the rest of her life easy. In fact, the worst for Katie was yet to come.

It had started raining, and Katie decided to send an Iris-message in the drizzle. She fished a drachma out of Travis's bag and flipped it into the mist. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Annabeth Chase of Camp Half-Blood." Annabeth shimmered into existence. She was lying on her bed, notes spread around her in a huge fan. Katie had a nagging feeling that the notes were about Percy. "Annie?" she said softly, using the old nickname from when they were both eight and Katie had just come to camp. Annabeth usually hated it when anyone called her that now… but under the circumstances, Katie had the feeling that it was just what Athena's daughter needed.

"Don't _call_ me that-" Annabeth started automatically, before looking up. "Katie! You're okay! I guess Travis found you, then?"

"Yeah," Katie said sadly. "Yeah, he did. But gods, there were about a million monsters stopping us from getting out, and one of them knocked him unconscious. He was running to warn me about this giant ax-wielding maniac and wasn't paying any attention to anything else. It's my fault…" She couldn't help it. Tears leaked out and ran down her cheeks, mixing with the rain.

"Oh, Katie," Annabeth said. "It'll be okay. He'll wake up. But you should check to make sure he's not injured in any other way, you know, so he'll get better faster."

"Right. You're right." In her worry, Katie had completely forgotten the basic rules of demigod first-aid. "I should've thought of that." She ran over to where Travis was lying, covered by the mud-splattered jacket she'd been wearing for the last two weeks. She lifted it gently and unzipped the coat he had on underneath… then gasped. Four large gashes ripped across Travis's chest, and he was bleeding rather a lot. She'd seen the hellhound come at him, but he'd insisted that the cuts were just scratches. Distracted by other monsters, she'd taken him at his word, but she should've know he wasn't telling her everything. Sons of Hermes were pathological liars. "Oh, gods, Travis, what in Hades did you do to yourself?" she muttered, searching through his backpack for that demigod staple, nectar. By some godly miracle, he'd actually remembered to pack some. She unscrewed the canteen and poured rather a lot of the golden liquid down his throat, absent-mindedly wondering what it tasted like to him. His bleeding slowed, but didn't stop completely. Katie risked a few more drops, until it did, but was afraid to try any more. She didn't know how much he could drink before he burned to ashes. If that happened, and it was her fault… it would suck.

"Katie?" Annabeth called over from the Iris-message. "How is he?"

There wasn't much else Katie could do. She screwed the cap back on and went back, rolling her eyes at Annabeth. "A hellhound clawed him pretty badly and he has a gigantic bruise in the back of his head. Other than that? He's great." Annabeth didn't comment on her sarcasm. She knew that was how Katie dealt with scary situations.

"So… is there a reason you Iris-messaged me?" Annabeth asked, tactfully changing the subject. "And how did you Iris-message me in the first place? You're out in the middle of nowhere."

Katie shrugged. "It's raining and misty, and I had a drachma. That's the same way I Iris-messaged Travis the other day. I'm just lucky New Jersey is having unusual amounts of rain right now. As for a reason… well, I thought you might like to know that I'm not dead, and that Travis isn't dead, and that we'll eventually get back to camp once he wakes up. And I guess I also wanted some conscious human company…"

"I can understand that," Annabeth said quietly.

Katie looked at her, alone in her cabin, worrying about her boyfriend when the rest of the world was carefree and happy. "Yeah, I guess you can, huh?" she agreed. "So what had Travis been doing for two weeks after I… left? Did he bother everyone without me around to stop him?"

"Actually, no," Annabeth said, a little surprised. "I didn't notice at the time… you know why… but he didn't pull a single prank the entire time. Camp was weirdly quiet without the constant screams of 'I'll get you back for this, Stoll!' Anyway, I heard he was asking pretty much every single person about you, trying to figure out where you'd gone. And then he realized that nobody knew and he went out to search for you himself and you Iris-messaged him and, well, you know how it went from there."

"Wow," Katie said slowly. "Not a _single_ prank? That's… that's actually kind of scary. Camp wouldn't be the same without them."

"Well, now that _you're_ back, I figure he'll be back to pranking in a second," Annabeth said, smiling slightly. "He was really, _really_ worried about you…"

"Yeah, I picked up on that," Katie grinned. "It was sweet."

"Oh really? So you…? So he…?"

"Yes I did. And yes he did."

"Oh, Katie, that's great!" Annabeth laughed. Katie had a sneaking feeling that it was the first time she'd laughed since Percy had disappeared. "I'm so excited for you two!"

"We're not getting _married_, Annie." Katie rolled her eyes… but couldn't stop smiling. "And for your information, he hasn't even-" Just then, she saw Travis moving and groaning slightly out of the corner of her eye. "Travis! He's waking up, Annie, sorry, I've got to go…"

"Don't worry about it," Annabeth said, her grin suddenly vanishing. "I… I have plenty to do here."

"I'll IM you again later," Katie promised, biting her lip. She didn't like to leave Annabeth alone, but Travis…

"It's fine, Katie," Annabeth insisted, forcing a smile back on her face. "Just get back to me whenever you can. And tell me everything," she added, her smile suddenly becoming real.

"I will! Bye, Annie," Katie said. Annabeth swiped a hand through the image and disappeared. Instantly, Katie stood up and raced over to Travis. "Travis! Travis! Oh, thank the gods you're okay…" She knelt beside him and helped him sit up. "Gods, Travis, you really had me worried there…"

Travis looked at her, his blue eyes slightly disoriented. "Who's Travis?"

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**Any thoughts?**


	12. Her Journey

**Thanks for all the reviews! I figured I couldn't let you guys wait for a new chapter any longer, so here it is! Enjoy! **

**Has anyone started to notice the pattern of this story yet? Hint: It's in the chapter titles... ;)**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan is not me, I am not he, If you still think I am, There must be something seriously wrong with thee. **

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**Her journey:**

Katie blinked slowly. "_You're_ Travis. Travis Stoll? Son of Hermes?"

Travis just stared at her. She could see in his eyes that he didn't know what she was talking about. "I… I don't know what you're talking about." (See?) "_I'm_ Travis? Why don't I remember…?"

"You were hit on the head," Katie said quietly, realizing the truth. "…Really, _really_ hard. You've been out for a few hours. I guess… I guess you have amnesia."

"Oh…" he said, trying to take it all in, she guessed. "Then… who are you?"

Katie bit her lip, trying to decide how to answer. She'd never dreamed that Travis Conrad Stoll, son of Hermes, would ever have to ask who she was. It was a nightmare. No, it was her _worst_ nightmare. "I'm Katie Gardner," she said finally. "Your… friend." She couldn't bring herself to say more than that. It just didn't seem right.

"Oh…" he said again. "Then… who hit me on the head?"

_Should she tell him about monsters?_ She wondered. She hesitated again, not knowing how much to say. But she decided he needed to know that, at least. After all, with her luck, they'd be attacked several more times before they got back to camp. Slowly, she answered, "So, there are these Greek myths, right? And everyone thinks that they're just myths, old and made up by random ancient people. Well, the thing is…"

"They're real?" Travis said in surprise. "And so all the monsters and gods are real, too? And some Greek monster was the one who knocked me out? And… gods, how in Hades did you get me out of that?" She saw his expression grow even more confused as he realized that he'd just said 'gods' and 'Hades' as naturally as breathing. Normally, she'd have thought that he was just pulling a prank, pretending to lose his memory to freak her out, and soon he'd say, "Just kidding. I remember everything, Katie." After all, he _was_ a son of Hermes. It was the kind of twisted joke she'd have expected him to pull a month ago. But now, she just didn't think he would do that to her. And the way he looked, so innocent, so lost… she got the feeling he really couldn't remember. She wanted to cry, but he didn't need crying right now, he needed explanations. And if there was one thing Kathryn Alyssa Gardner knew how to do, it was to help people. So she did. She helped him. She told him about getting trapped by an army of monsters (although she didn't explain how they'd gotten into that situation… that was a little hard for her to talk about, even now that it was over…) and fighting their way through it, and how he'd saved her from getting chopped in half by an ax maniac, but a monster had knocked him down while he'd been distracted. Then she talked about pretending to be a god, almost smiling as she did, and how she'd dragged him here and helped him get better.

"…And we need to get back to New York, in Long Island, where we live," she finished. "We, er, go to camp there."

"All year?" Travis said in surprise.

"Yeah, pretty much," Katie answered. "Um, we should get there as soon as we can, but right now it's pretty late so instead, it'd probably be a good idea to get some rest before starting out. We've got a ways to go. Um… I can take first watch."

"No, I'll do it," Travis said firmly. "If what you say is true – and I get this weird feeling that it is – then I've been out for a couple hours, and you've been awake a long time and are probably exhausted. Don't worry. If a monster comes, I'll shout like crazy and wake you up, and you can go all ninja-goddess on it." He grinned at her, and, startled, she grinned back. For a moment, it almost seemed like the old Travis was back, being strong, looking out for her (and maybe even being almost _too_ overprotective), and cracking jokes. Then his grin was gone, he looked at her sadly, and the moment was over. Old Travis never looked _that_ sad. "You seem really nice, Katie. I wish I could remember knowing you."

She looked away, hoping he'd mistaken her tears for rain. "Yeah… I do too."

They sat there quietly, the minutes ticking by. Then Travis cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well… good night."

"Good night," she answered, still not meeting his eyes. She left him her waterproof jacket, in case he got cold, and fell asleep a few feet off, still crying silent tears.

When she woke up, she was wrapped up in her coat, the rain had stopped, and Travis was still up, staring out at the rising sun. "It's dawn?" she said, sitting up. Travis started and looked at her guiltily.

"Yeah. I wasn't tired, so…"

"You should've woken me up and gotten some sleep yourself," she scolded. "First watch doesn't mean only watch."

"I wasn't tired!" Travis insisted. "Besides, you were really exhausted, I could tell, you didn't even wake up when it started thundering…" He added in a rush.

"And my jacket?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "You were shivering, and I didn't want you to get frostbite or something."

"So you should've woken me up!"

"You were exhausted!" he shot back. "I told you! If I had woken you up, you would've just fallen asleep during your watch. So I let you sleep. Besides, I wanted to think about… stuff." She let up instantly, knowing exactly what Travis meant by "stuff". If she'd just lost her memory, she'd want to think about "stuff" too.

"…I probably would've snapped at you if you'd woken me up, actually," she admitted slowly. "So I should really be thanking you."

Travis rolled his eyes. "That's more like it." Once again, she saw the old Travis in this memory-blank Travis, and she could almost pretend that everything was fine and normal and great. Well, maybe not great – after all, they were still rather close to Gaea's monster camp and rather far from their demigod one – but at least fine and normal. But of course, memory-blank Travis just didn't… remember… _things_… about their relationship – er, _situation_. And, far more important, (or so Katie told herself), memory-blank Travis did not know how to defend himself from monsters. She was worried about what would happen if they were attacked in large numbers. Travis had always been a better fighter – she admitted that freely – but now, she _just didn't know_. And that scared her.

Solution: Stay on the move constantly – don't get bogged down in one place for more than a night. Keep going, and maybe the monsters won't find you. (It wasn't true… but a girl can dream, right?) So instead of fretting over memory-blank Travis's… memory-blankness, she started packing their things up. "Time to get moving," she told him as she worked. "We've got a lot of miles to go, and even if we hitchhike… well, it'll take a while."

"Okay," Travis said, surprised at her sudden change of subject but deciding not to comment. Katie just knew him that well – she could tell what he was thinking, even now. "Here, I'll help you." He pressed his right hand against the ground to help support him as he stood up… and promptly collapsed. "…Ow."

"Travis!" Katie cried, already moving towards him. "What did you do now?"

He looked down at his arm, which was now twisted into a strange angle that Katie really didn't want to look at for too long. "I think this is broken."

Kneeling down at his side, Katie bit her lip. She'd _thought_ she'd heard a crack when that Laistrygonian had taken a hammer to Travis… "Didn't you notice last night?"

"In case _you_ didn't notice, there were other things on my mind," he shrugged. "And then when I was moving it a little while settling in and it hurt like Hades…" he paused again at his strange choice of words, but then surged forward and finished in a rush, "Ifigureditwasjustsorefromfallingonit-weirdorsomet hingandIdidn'twanttoworryyouand_pleasedon'tbemad_!"

"Why would I be mad?" she said in surprise. "It's not _your_ fault some monster idiot broke your arm."

"It's just… now I can't help pack, really, so we'll slow down and get a late start and I know you wanted to get moving…"

"Do you _really_ think that's what I'm worrying about right now?" Katie asked, softening. "Well, I'm not. I'm worrying about _you_, genius. You need a sling or something for that arm…" she rummaged through his backpack, "but all your spare clothes were burned to ashes by those cannonballs." She turned and saw her coat lying untouched where she'd left it to go pack. A light went on upstairs. Travis saw it.

"No way. You are not making me a sling out of your only jacket. It's like thirty degrees right now!"

"Forty-two," Katie interrupted, waving off the cold like it was nothing, "and you _need_ a sling."

"Then make it out of _my_ jacket; I don't need it. And it's _my _sling anyway."

"Gods, you're being even more overprotective than usual," Katie laughed. "But fine, I'll use _your_ jacket. Come over here." Happy to oblige, Travis stood up, very careful not to use his bad arm… and collapsed again, cursing.

"Stupid ankle… I freaking can't put wait on it without it turning to freaking fire." She knew what he meant by the metaphor – she'd had her share of sprained ankles.

"Seriously? Travis Conrad Stoll, if you continue in this fashion I shall have to consider the possibility of you becoming even _more_ accident-prone than I am!" Katie laughed, forgetting for a moment that he wouldn't get it.

But somehow, someway, he did. "_All_ demigods are accident-prone, Kathryn Alyssa Gardner," he grinned back. Then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Kathryn Alyssa? Demigods? Where did that come from?"

Katie bit her lip, totally frustrated by the fact that she had to explain an inside joke to the person who had come up with the inside joke with her! It was ridiculous. Their whole situation was ridiculous. "Er… it's an old joke I shared with… well, with you, actually, because we were both always getting in trouble. Kathryn Alyssa Gardner is my full name. And demigods – that's us. Half-mortal, half-"

"God. Yeah, I think I know that, weirdly enough. Okay. I'm half-god. That's not strange at all," Travis said, the last part mostly to himself. He was taking it awfully well, Katie thought. Then again, he had already learned the truth a long time ago…

"Okay, that's good," she said slowly, "but now the real question is, what do we do now? I can't tear that jacket up to make a sling for your arm _and_ a wrap for your foot – I could maybe use my knife, but it's not really the right material for a wrap, and anyway, it should really be a _splint, _not just a wrap…"

"So, you walk/hitchhike to the nearest drugstore – it can't be _that_ far – and you buy a splint and sling. I'll wait here; don't worry, I promise not to get involved in any monster-related shenanigans." He said it with a completely straight face.

Katie, on the other hand, let out a noise that was halfway between a laugh and a snort. "_Shenanigans?_ And you _promise_? Oh yes, Travis, just because you _promise_, the monsters _definitely_ won't come looking for you."

"Hey, do you have a better idea?"

"Sadly, no," she admitted. "I mean, I _could_ risk giving you more nectar – this magical god-drink with healing properties – but I gave you a lot already when you were bleeding and unconscious… guess it wasn't enough to fix your arm and ankle, though… and if you drink too much you could burn to ashes."

He paused for a while, thinking hard… but eventually, the only thing he said was, "I think I'll pass on the magical god-drink with healing properties."

"Smart choice," she said in amusement. "Well… I guess I'd better get going… only problem is, I don't have any cash… the cannonballs destroyed all of that too."

"Luckily, that's one problem I can solve," Travis smiled happily. He reached into his back pocket with his good arm and pulled out a stack of bills that raised her eyebrows rather high. "Part of Cabin Eleven's rainy day stash. Er… I guess. I don't know. That's what I _think_… it _could_ be… maybe?" It was clear to Katie that the phrase had popped into his head without him really understanding what it meant. She decided to help him out a little.

"Cabin Eleven is where you stay, as a son of Hermes. As the children of the god of thieves, you are complete kleptomaniacs and probably took that from other campers and said that they'd simply 'contributed' with  
'donations' to your 'rainy day stash', which you guys probably use to buy illegal canned Cokes." She grinned and took the money. "For once, I guess that those poor robbery victims are actually going to 'donate' to some useful cause. I guess I should go spend this stuff now."

"I guess you should," Travis agreed, obviously not surprised by his family's lack of morals. After all, he was the one who had really probably _come up_ with the _idea_ of the rainy day stash.

"Promise not to get involved in any monster-related shenanigans?" She still could not manage to keep a total straight face when she said that.

"Of course, Kathryn Alyssa Gardner," Travis said solemnly.

She rolled her eyes at the full name, but said nothing. Instead, she waved and jogged off.

Her physical journey was short – only about a mile-and-a-half, surprisingly enough – and quite easy – she jogged the whole way. But her mental journey twisted and turned in all different directions and was hard to process. At first, she'd thought about her conversations with memory-blank Travis and realized how similar they really were to her conversations with memory-laden Travis (minus the parts where she was explaining the Greek mythological world to him), and she'd told herself constantly that things would be okay, things would work out. It became the rhythm of her jog for the first half-mile. _Things would be okay, things would work out, things would be okay, things would work out_. His personality was still the same. With a few years of restoring their relationship – er, situation – to its previous condition, things could get back to how they'd been just before Travis's sudden amnesia.

As Katie thought this, a hole began to develop in her mantra. _A few years?_ In two years (what she imagined 'a few' to mean), she'd be _nineteen_. A legal adult, and _old_. Gods, that was way too long to wait. The thought scared her, and she bit her lip to keep from crying (so that she could still see where she was going). For the next half-mile, her rhythm was, _It's not okay, it won't work out. It's not okay, it won't work out. _She was having a bipolar kind of day.

But soon, her having a pretty optimistic nature and all, she'd had a new train of thought. Who said that amnesia had to be _permanent_? After all, it wasn't like he'd been dipped in the _Lethe_ or anything. She could find Hypnos and ask him for help, or she could try to jog Travis's memory with stimuli from his past (like showing him Connor, his constant partner in crime… or maybe she'd sic a hellhound on him… she entertained that idea for a while before admitting that she liked him _way _too much to use that particular stimulus on him…), or… Really, there were so many options. _She could fix Travis_. She could bring his memory back. After all, she was Katie Gardner, and if Katie Gardner ever had a strength, it was helping people. So she'd help Travis. And, through that, she'd help herself. By the time she reached the drugstore, Katie had a new rhythm to jog by. She liked this one. _You help people, you'll help Travis. You fix people, you'll fix Travis. You help people, you'll help Travis. You fix people, you'll fix Travis._

She just prayed that this mantra would come true.


	13. Her Preparations

**We're soooo close to 75 reviews, guys! Is it possible we might even reach 100 for this chapter? :D (Well, for these two chapters actually because they're both pretty short ones...)**

**Anyway, congratulations to AnnabethChaseForever and Icestorm238 for figuring out the pattern! If anybody else does, tell me in a review! I have virtual pies and cookies just waiting to be virtually claimed and enjoyed... ;)**

**Disclaimer: The plot is mine. Travis and Katie? Not so much. **

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**Her preparations:**

Katie was pretty sure that the drugstore manager ripped her off with the sling and splint (thirty bucks? What scam was he trying to pull?) but she was too desperate to argue, as she was sure the man could tell. Besides, she wasn't the type to get into unnecessary trouble – except when it came to stopping Travis from pulling his ridiculous stunts. She'd never known why, but she had this weird idea that if he ever got punished for anything, it was her fault because she hadn't been able to convince him to stop. By extension, she tried to convince him to stop as often as she could. But if he didn't listen, for whatever reason – taking, for example, the giant-chocolate-bunnies-on-the-roof trick – he faced not only Chiron's and Dionysus's anger, but hers too (especially when the prank targeted her campers). He never enjoyed that part of pranking. Katie had thought all of this while she'd browsed the store looking for the sling and splint. She'd found what she needed soon enough, but as she'd been walking towards the counter after picking them up, she'd seen a few other items that she couldn't resist buying either. They were an extra ten bucks, but whatever. She needed them too. They were the perfect first stimuli to try on Travis Stoll. Her heart significantly lighter, she started the mile-and-a-half jog back to their makeshift campground, perfectly prepared to fix Travis – in more ways than one.


	14. His Hope

**Second chapter! Yay!**

**Don't forget to review after you read! Reviews make me very happy, which therefore means faster updating. ;)**

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**His hope: **

Of course, after Katie left, Travis got involved in monster-related shenanigans almost instantly. He'd been sitting silently in the grass, minding his own business, when a _huge_ – like, _twelve-feet-tall_ huge – monster marched in, grasping three leashes made of what-looked-like-possible-human-skin-turned-to-lea ther-and-six-inch-wide-black-iron-studs with one gigantic fist. The leashes ended at the necks of three lion-bird-things. Travis didn't stick around to find out what the lion-bird-things were, or whether the leashes really _were_ made of human flesh. Instead, he hopped to his feet and sprinted for the woods, picking up what Katie said was his sword on his way out. The humanoid roared wordlessly and very loudly (if thunder had suddenly clapped less than two inches from Travis's ear, the noise would've been _nearly _as loud as the monster) and, as if on cue, the three lion-bird-things joined in together a few seconds later, creating some sort of twisted shrieking harmony that grated on Travis's nerves and made his brain feel like it was crumbling to dust. But he didn't stop running. He ran and sprinted and dashed and stumbled and hurried and crashed and tripped and leaped through the woods as fast as was humanly possible. However, even as he distanced himself from the monsters as much as he could, he prayed to whatever Greek gods could hear him and take pity on a poor, amnesiac, demigod teenager: _Please, let them come after me. Don't let them hurt Katie. Please, let them come after me. Don't let them hurt Katie. Keep her safe. Keep her away from this. Let them come after me._

It was strange, really, because he could only remember remembering her for a day, but he wanted to protect her _so badly_. He wasn't sure if he'd always been this worried about her, or if it was some weird result of his amnesia, but he had this hunch that it was the former. Feelings this strong didn't spring up in a day, after all.

Caught up in his thoughts, he could almost block out the constant keening of the hunting monsters tracking him down persistently. He stayed focused on a topic far away from his present situation – he wondered about the life he'd lived for _seventeen years_ that some monster had knocked out of him just… was it really just _yesterday_? All of his memories were only _one day old_? The thought distracted him, and a _very_ rude tree root popped up out of nowhere while he wasn't paying attention. As he toppled towards the ground, he cursed at the cruel and cold-hearted tree that had borne an equally ruthless tree root possessing a single purpose in life: to trip him. And then (of course), things got worse. Because Travis found that he couldn't get back up. When the monster and the monster's pets (for what else could they be?) had appeared, an instant adrenaline high had fueled Travis's insane burst of speed. But now that the ruthless and very rude tree root had broken his lack of awareness of his limitations (that was a strange phrase that Travis had never thought he'd ever think), his ankle – throbbing intensely and swelling before his eyes – was getting his attention again. And it was saying, _Hey, look at me! Feel me! Feel my pain! You will never walk again! _(Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it was really only a slight one. After all, if the monsters caught Travis and killed him right this moment, he really _wouldn't_ ever walk again.) He must've tried to stand about five times, but his stupid attention-seeking ankle just wouldn't let him. Finally, he gave up and slumped behind the very tree with the evil protruding root, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the monsters tracked him down. He only prayed that the Greek terrors would be satisfied with his death and would ignore Katie.

"Leave him, my pets!" For a second, Travis was grateful for the end to the screeching. And then he realized what the humanoid's command meant, and his gratitude instantly turned to heart-pounding, cold-sweat-inducing, blood-curdling fear. "Well, one of you can track him down, if you _must_, but you all know Gaea's orders. The daughter of Demeter is the one we _really_ want." And with that, Travis's only hope was really and truly shattered.


	15. Her Fights

**So, the cliffhanger from last chapter isn't going to be resolved for a while because I must stay true to the pattern of chapters (which some of you have figured out :), and therefore I have to have this Tratie-fluff, kind-of-a-filler-sorry-about-that chapter. You guys are just going to have to wait in anxious suspense... Maybe, while you wait, you can amuse yourself by reading and reviewing my other stories! *shameless self-promotion* ;) **

**If it's any consolation, I won't take long to update. I promise! :)**

**Thank you for all the reviews! Could we possibly get to 100 with _this_ chapter? :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

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**Her fights:**

Meanwhile, oblivious to Travis's problems, Katie walked back to the campsite, with Travis's sling, bandages, and stimuli in a bundle under her arm. As she contemplated the problems of liking a boy who couldn't remember her, Katie's brain slowly slipped into memories - memories of a time when Travis _did_ know her, and took complete advantage of the fact that he knew her.

* * *

_"Travis! What in Hades's name is _this_?" Katie cut Travis off before he could run away and dangled something in front of his face._

_Travis held up his hands in mock terror. "Sp - sp - sp - _spider_! Get it away; get it _away_!"_

_A few children of Athena heard his cries and promptly sprinted as far away as possible, but Katie was unfazed. "You know as well as I do that this is a _fake_ spider," she told him in exasperation. "After all, _you're_ the one who stuck it in Miranda's bed yesterday. I don't even want to _know_ how you snuck in my cabin without being stopped, but I swear to all the gods that I won't let it happen again."_

_"What makes you think it was me?" Travis asked, feigning innocence._

_Katie glared at him. "It's _always_ you, Stoll."_

_At that, Travis gave up the act and grinned. "Then what makes you think you can stop it from happening again? After all... I mean, originally Connor and I were going to drop this baby onto Annabeth's mattress, but we knew that the Athena cabin would devise some form of revenge so genius that it might actually stop us from ever pranking them again. So instead, we let your cabin have the honor of meeting Ricardo." He rolled the "r" exaggeratedly._

_Katie huffed in annoyance. "Two things. One, you _named_ the fake spider?"_

_"Of course," he said breezily. "He's very near and dear to our hearts. Connor's and my first pet, you know."_

_Katie rolled her eyes, but decided not to stoop to his level and comment. "Two, what makes you think that _my_ cabin won't come up with some form of revenge so genius that it might actually stop you from ever pranking us again?"_

_Travis raised his eyebrows. "Because you're a daughter of _Demeter_," he said, in a "no-duh" tone of voice. "Your cabin is all sunshine and daisies and green thumbs and happiness. You're not about to come up with a devious _revenge_ scheme."_

_Katie crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "How would you know?"_

_Travis actually _laughed_, as if her anger _amused_ him. __"Oh, my dear Katie, I just _do_. You won't be able to stop me from sneaking into your cabin. You won't be able to stop the fake bugs from coming. But the insects _might_ just stop finding their way into your siblings' bed sheets if you give me what I want now."_

_For some reason, that statement made Katie's cheeks flush. "And what would that be?"_

_He grinned cheekily. "Your full name, Katie. Spill it."_

_She stared. "That's what you want? Why?"_

_Travis shrugged. "I have my reasons. For one thing, it's more satisfying to yell your full name across the green when I want you for something."_

_"Travis, our cabins hate each other," Katie said bluntly. "Why in the world would you ever want me for something?"_

_Now it was Travis's turn to turn red. "I have my reasons," he repeated. "Now, will you spill your full name or not?"_

_Katie had one motto in life, and that was, "Never trust a son of Hermes." She shook her head. "I don't think so."_

* * *

_Ricardo found his way into her five-year-old sister Abigail's bed that night, and four-year-old Gabriel's the next. Katie still refused to give in to Travis's demand. She preferred spending twenty minutes calming her siblings down every night to bowing down to the son of Hermes._

* * *

_As soon as they had gotten used to the sight of a hairy black spider in their cabin, Ricardo stopped showing up. Instead, a brown centipede (named Gerald, according to Travis) started appearing in corners and on the cabin sink. Katie was spending nearly forty-five minutes calming down her siblings now. And try as she might, she couldn't think of _any_ form of revenge that was terrible enough to stop Travis Stoll from pranking her cabin ever again._

_That didn't mean that she would give the son of Hermes what he wanted._

* * *

_Seven different kinds of plastic creepy-crawlies were appearing in Cabin Four every night, in new locations each time. One cockroach actually fell out of Melly's picture book when she opened it._

_Katie was spending over an hour calming down her siblings now. If she waited any longer, some of the youngest kids might be permanently scarred for life. _

_Katie knew when she was beaten._

* * *

_"Fine!"_

_Travis spun around to face Katie, his eyebrows raised in hopeful expectation. "Fine, what?"_

_"Fine, I'll tell you my full name!" she told him, looking up at the sky as if she couldn't believe what she was doing. (Which she couldn't.) "Just... Promise me that you'll stop putting the fake bugs anywhere in my cabin, or anywhere near my siblings?"_

_Travis grinned. "I promise. Now spill, Katie."_

_She sighed. "Kathryn Alyssa Gardner. Spelled K-A-T-H-R-Y-N."_

_Travis bowed mockingly. "Then I'm Travis Conrad Stoll, at your service, Kathryn."_

_Katie started. She hadn't expected Travis to give his full name in return. But all she said was, "Don't call me 'Kathryn'. And isn't Conrad rather similar to Connor?"_

_Immediately, he sprang out of his bow. "Why does _everyone_ always say that?" he asked indignantly. "Connor's middle name is Trenton, okay?"_

_Katie laughed before she could stop herself, but she smothered her giggles as soon as she saw the triumphant look on Travis's face. She had already given in to his demand. There was no way Katie was going to let him have the satisfaction of making her laugh as well. "Well, I told you what you wanted to know," she said professionally, straightening. "You'd better stick to your oath."_

_"Or what?" Travis asked with a laugh. "You'll make flowers sprout around me?"_

_There wasn't anything Katie could think to say to that. She just turned around and walked away before she could make an even bigger fool of herself._

* * *

_Surprisingly, Travis was true to his word. The bugs never came back to Cabin Four. But Katie never forgot that she had lost a bet with Travis Stoll. She hadn't figured out a way to get revenge for Ricardo and Gerald and all the rest of the bugs - yet. But she was nothing if not persistent, and she had plenty of time. Kathryn Alyssa Gardner would spend the next three years of her life trying to get the better of Travis Conrad Stoll._

* * *

"And thus the feud began," Katie whispered out loud, an unbidden smile growing on her face. Travis and she had fought countless times over the next three years, arguing about pranks and practical jokes and devious schemes and the practicality of gardening and the usefulness of flora-related powers and a host of other things involving their respective godly parents and cabins. In all those arguments, it was hard to pinpoint just when Katie stopped getting aggravated whenever Travis showed up with that pesky half-smile on his lips and started _looking forward_ to his surprise appearances (although she never admitted that change to anyone, including herself). But there was one particular argument of theirs that Katie remembered well.

It was the day when she finally got the better of Travis Stoll. He had often teased her about how predictable she was - always responsible, always compassionate (towards anyone but Travis), always firmly rooted on the right side of the law. Eventually, Katie had realized that getting the better of Travis Stoll meant surprising him. And she could only surprise him if she stopped being so predictable.

* * *

_Katie stormed into Cabin Eleven, ignoring the sign taped to the front door that said, "Do Not Enter: Dangerous Explosive Experiments in Progress." She had known the Stoll brothers long enough to understand that the warning was fake, intended to scare away people who were angry at them. Namely, Katie. _

_"_Travis_!" she fumed, her eyes darting frantically for signs of the attracti - _annoying_ son of Hermes. "Where in Hades are you?"_

_"I'm sorry, but the person you are trying to reach is unavailable at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone. BEEEEEEP."_

_Katie spun around, searching for the voice's source with narrowed eyes. "I know that wasn't an answering machine, Stoll," she said. "It was you. Now stop acting like a child who got caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar and _come here_!"_

_"Ah, but Katie, that's just the problem." The words were whispered in Katie's ear, so close to her that she stiffened in shock. "I'm a Stoll. I wouldn't _get_ caught."_

_She twisted her head to the side and found herself staring into the beaut - bothersome blue eyes of Travis Stoll._

_Instinctively, she stepped backwards, but they were still close enough to kiss. (Kiss? _Kiss?_ Where had she come up with _that_ crazy comparison?) For good measure, Katie stepped back again. Then she took a deep breath and started in on her daily rant. "Is that your cover story? 'Stolls don't get caught'? Because believe me, Travis, we caught you and Connor this time. You two are the _only_ people _obnoxious_ enough to replace all the water in the hoses with blue Kool-Aid!"_

_"Aw, you noticed?" Travis asked, sounding disappointed. "We made it blue on purpose, hoping you wouldn't notice."_

_Katie glared at him. "Of _course_ we noticed, Travis. Do you have any idea how disgustingly _sticky_ your prank made the strawberry plants? Do you realize how _time-consuming_ it was to get water running in the hoses again and then rinse _every drop_ of Kool-Aid off of those poor plants? Do you know-"_

_"Actually, I do know," Travis informed her. For a moment, Katie thought that he might actually have been _responsible_ for once and helped clean up without her knowing. But no, he was a Stoll. She must have had too much sun. There was no other way that she could come up with such an insane theory. _

_His next words confirmed that. "After all, Connor and I had to do a trial run to make sure it would work." _

_"Agh!" Katie threw her hands up in the air before she could make a ruder gesture. Even if she wasn't around the little kids right now, she still had to set a good example. If she slipped up in front of one person, it would only be a matter of time before she slipped up in front of thirty. _

_Travis grinned infuriatingly. "'Agh', Katie? Is that the worst insult you can come up with?"_

_Katie opened her mouth to retort that actually, she knew _several_ insults that might nettle the son of Hermes a little more. But she clamped her mouth shut again before she could voice that thought aloud. _Set a good example, Katie_, she reminded herself. Gods, that boy made it _so hard_ not to slip up. _

_The idiot had the nerve to keep smiling and lean closer to Katie, so that their noses nearly touched. "Have I left you speechless, Kathryn?" he whispered._

_With _that_ display, Katie found her voice again. "Don't call me 'Kathryn'," she said primly, crossing her arms. "And next time, at least have the decency to direct your pranks towards the Ares cabin. I'm still mad that they cheated at Capture-the-Flag last week."_

_Travis's mouth dropped open. "Did you just give me _permission_ to prank a cabin? _You_, Kathryn Alyssa Gardner, 100% responsible daughter of Demeter?"_

_Katie didn't know why she'd ever thought it was a good idea to tell Travis her full name. "Don't call me 'Kathryn'," she repeated. "And don't be ridiculous. I did nothing of the sort." But she winked at him as she turned on her heel._

_Travis had called her speechless. But _he_ was the one who couldn't say a word as she walked out the door._

* * *

As Katie sunk deeper and deeper into memories, remembering the clever, crazy, aggravating, adorable son of Hermes that she had eventually admitted to liking (just before said son of Hermes had lost his own memories), her walk slowed unconsciously. Katie ended up moving at half her usual brisk pace. She meandered on, lost in thought, unaware that her clever, crazy, aggravating, adorable son of Hermes was in danger just half-a-mile away. And that she was walking into the same trap.

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**Dun dun dun... ;)**

**Any thoughts? **


	16. Her Memories

**Okay... Could we possibly get to 100 reviews with this chapter? *third time asking* :P**

**That's all! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

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**Her memories:**

Finally, Katie reached the memory that she had thought of as she was shopping in the convenience store. The memory that had prompted her to buy the stimuli that she prayed would get rid of Travis's amnesia. The memory that Katie treasured above almost all others. She only hoped that the event had been just as special to Travis.

* * *

_"Come _on_, Katie," Travis insisted. They were sixteen, and although the Titan War was getting worse and worse, Beckendorf and the others were still managing to pull off a good Fourth of July. "We're going to miss the fireworks! And they're going to be _really special_ this year!"  
Katie was instantly suspicious. "What in _Hades_ did you do this time?"_

_ Slowly, ever so slowly, his face turned a very bright red. "…_Nothing_, of course, Katie," he lied to her face. "Why would I ruin such a monumental event for demigod couples of all parentage? It's a milestone in all of their relationships. They would be very put out if I destroyed their precious moments with some childish venture."_

_ Katie wasn't letting up that easily. "And that brings me to another point. If we aren't a couple, then why are _we_ going to the fireworks together?"_

_ His bright red deepened to a shade that was a bit more maroon. "Er… because Connor is too lame to go with me and I have abandonment issues and can never be alone which is why I love the Hermes cabin because someone is always around to keep me company but today everyone is too… um… busy and so I had to ask you because if I have to watch the fireworks alone I will have a mental breakdown and run through all of the couples, tousling their romantic blankets and crushing the moment by screaming, 'I have friends! I know I have friends!' at the top of my lungs?"_

_ It sounded way too much like a question to be true (Travis was usually a very good liar, son of Hermes and all, but whenever he was around Katie, for whatever reason, each 'bent truth' was badly told and obviously false), but Katie let it slide, preferring to focus her efforts on stopping him from pulling whatever prank he was planning on pulling. "Busy, Travis? _Busy?_ I know what that means. What that _always _means. You're going to _do_ something, aren't you?"_

_ "Well, actually, yes, I am going to do something," Travis said, grabbing her hand and gently dragging her forward. "I'm going to go to this spot that's perfect for firework-watching, and you're going to come with me, and we're going to have a blast."_

_ Strangely enough, he was actually telling the truth this time. "So… you're really not going to make Cabin Nine's fireworks explode prematurely?"_

_ He shook his head. "I'm really not."_

_ But Katie wasn't ready to give up yet. "And the rest of the Hermes cabin isn't going to make Cabin Nine's fireworks explode prematurely?"_

_ He grinned at that. "They wanted to. But I told them it was a bad idea and you would kill me if they did."_

_ "And they listened to you?"_

_ "Yup."_

_ "No way. …Seriously?"_

_ "Yup. Seriously. There will be no premature explosions of fireworks tonight. Unless it's Cabin Nine's fault. Or Percy." Katie couldn't help but smile at that. Percy did tend to be rather… _accident-prone_ sometimes._

_ "All right," she said eventually, "I believe you. Lead me to this perfect firework-watching spot."_

_ So he did, and it really was incredibly perfect. It was in the center of Camp Half-Blood's beach, but set a little back from everyone else so that you felt secluded, even surrounded by people. He'd set a blanket there beforehand to keep the spot reserved (otherwise, anywhere was fair game, as far as the other demigods were concerned), and there were two suspicious-looking packages lying on top of it. "Oh, my gods," she breathed, walking up to it. "Is that…?"_

_ "Yeah, it is," Travis smiled, immensely pleased with himself. "70% cacao dark chocolate subtly flavored with orange zest."_

_ Katie didn't even ask how he'd known what her favorite dessert in all the world was – she just sat down slowly on the blanket and stared at the two large bars of fantastic chocolate. She wasn't much of a candy person – or a cake person, or an ice-cream person, or a brownie person, or really a dessert person – but when it came to 70% cacao dark chocolate subtly flavored with orange zest, her willpower crumbled. "Wow, Travis," she said finally. "That's… thank you."_

_ "Well, don't thank me yet!" he laughed. "You haven't tried it!" And he unwrapped a bar and gave her a piece._

_ "Delicious," she promised. "Now it's your turn." And they ate chocolate together, laughing and joking, until the fireworks began. Then, as tradition dictated, they were almost completely silent, only speaking to whisper in amazement as Cabin Nine's fireworks exploded across the deep blue sky. But then, half-an-hour later (too soon, in Katie's opinion), they were over, and most of the younger campers packed up and went to bed. Only a few couples stayed to smile and talk and, well, do stuff that couples do… and then there was Katie and Travis. They stayed too – the only two people there who weren't dating (besides Annabeth and Percy, of course, but they liked each other so obviously that they didn't really count)._

_ "So," Katie said, tilting her head at Travis, "why are we still here?"_

_ "Because you want the rest of the chocolate?" He grinned back at her with that mischievous half-grin that she loved to se - couldn't stand the sight of._

_ She narrowed her eyes at him. "No, really."_

_ His grin widened. "Because the show isn't actually over yet."_

_ She raised an eyebrow. "I'm almost scared to ask what that means."_

_ "It's not scary. I promise." Travis Conrad Stoll may have been a pathological liar, but oddly enough, when he promised something, he meant it. She had learned that after the fake bug incident years ago. So she went against all her honed Stoll brother instincts – and trusted him._

_ "All right, then. Finish the show."_

_ That was when he reached under the far end of the blanket and pulled out some white sticks. "Ta-da!" he smiled triumphantly._

_ "Travis?" Katie said, slightly worried about his mental health. "Those are _sticks_."_

_"Yeah, for now," he said, his smile not fading a bit by her blunt reaction. "But what happens when you light them on fire?"_

_ "Oh gods, Travis," Katie fretted exasperatedly. "You snuck a _lighter _into camp?"_

_ "Ah, it's no big deal," Travis shrugged. "It's not like I'm going to set a cabin on fire or anything."_

_ She pursed her lips. "Somehow, I'm having a hard time believing that, you being a pyromaniac and a compulsive prankster and all."_

_ "If it worries you so much, I'll _give_ you the lighter when this is over."_

_ "Really?"_

_ "Yeah, sure. I mean, I still have about four more hidden under my mattress." _

_ Katie couldn't tell if he was kidding or not – that stupid half-grin could go either way. So she simply rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever, Stoll. Just light the sticks on fire already."_

_ "Your wish is my command," Travis said, laughing like he'd just told her something hysterically funny and terrifically clever. He was being ridiculous of course, but Katie smiled, going along to make him feel better. (And that was the _only_ reason she was smiling, okay?) Then he lit the sticks on fire, and Katie breathed in sharply in surprise. They were more than sticks. They were Grade-A+ Made in Cabin Nine Demigod Sparklers, and they flashed incredibly with a blinding brightly white light you just didn't see in the mortal world. _

_ "Nice, Travis," she said in spite of herself. "Those are nice."_

_ "Oh, they're nice now," he grinned. "But just wait. Here, take one." He gave her one of the sparklers, and she held onto it gladly. "All right," he said. "Now blow on it."_

_ "Blow on it?"_

_ "Yeah. Trust me."_

"Trust_ you? That's a good one."_

_"On three," Travis said, ignoring her. "One, two – three!" And in spite of herself, Katie blew on her sparklers at the same time Travis did. The result was astonishing, beautiful, beyond words. When they'd blown on the sparklers, some of the sparks of light had broken free and floated into the sky, where they formed constellations and new patterns, looking for all the world like real stars. They did it again and again, till the sparklers themselves were looking a bit dim, but the sky shone with about forty new stars._

_She leaned her head on Travis's shoulder and smiled. "I love it, Travis," she told him happily._

_"Oh, thank the gods," he grinned, looking down at her. "I hoped you would." Their eyes locked, Katie turned towards him, her heart pounding hard, and Travis started to lean closer ever so slowly. But then Miranda Gardiner ran up to them, and they quickly separated, putting their sparklers between them like barriers._

_"Travis was just showing me these really cool sparklers, Miranda," Katie told her. "Look! They give out sparks like stars."_

_Miranda glanced up at the sky to humor her – "Mm, yes, those are nice" – but quickly got to the matter at hand. "Kelly" – Kelly was the Demeter cabin's youngest member at the moment, only five years old – "is convinced that a hellhound is hiding under her bed, waiting until she falls asleep to drag her into the Underworld. We all looked under the bed and promised her that nothing was there, but she'll have none of it. Could you please…?"_

_Katie sighed. "Yeah, I'll get her to sleep." She looked at Travis. "Tonight was fun."_

_He grinned halfway, as usual, but it didn't seem quite as real as before. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it? Here, take the rest of the chocolate." She smiled and took the extra bar silently. "Hey, and if the hellhound's real… I'll nip over there and bash its head in for you."_

_The "for you" hung in the air with a weight that didn't make sense. Katie looked at Travis, and Travis looked at Katie, and neither of them wanted the moment to end. But Miranda broke the silence, saying, "I'm sorry, Katie. But we've really got to go."_

_Katie bit her lip. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Travis. I'll see you later, okay?" And she ran off to get Kelly to sleep. It was a piece of cake, really ("Sweetie, how about you take my bed, then? And I'll borrow one of Cabin Eleven's sleeping bags and stay on the floor? And then the hellhound can't get either of us."), and when Kelly was tucked in nice and tight, Katie went right back to their blanket under the sparkler stars. But Travis was already gone. She sighed and turned back towards her cabin before remembering that she needed a sleeping bag. A minute later, and she was knocking at Cabin Eleven's door._

_"Hey, Katie," Travis said when he opened it (because of course he opened it). "How's Kelly?" She was slightly disappointed when he asked that first, although she didn't know why._

_"Oh, she's fine. Sleeping in my bed so the hellhound doesn't get her," she said, laughing lightly. "But I had to promise her I'd sleep on the floor so it wouldn't get me either. Do you have a spare sleeping bag in there?" The floor was entirely covered by sleeping bags. There was no _way_ they were all being used._

_"Oh, yeah, sure," Travis said. "I'll be right back." He closed the door, Katie heard some yelling and some grumbling, and then he was back with a reasonably clean sleeping bag in his hands. "Here," he told her. "Just bring it back in the morning, okay?"_

_"No problem," Katie promised. "Thanks." She paused. "Um… Travis?"_

_"Yeah?" He looked hopeful, but Katie couldn't figure out what he wanted, exactly._

_So she simply said, "Tonight was amazing. Really. You were great," and hugged him tightly and quickly around the sleeping bag. Then she stepped back, grabbed it, whispered, "Thanks again," and ran back to her cabin. For a long time that night, she lay awake, wondering if she should've kissed him. But no, she decided finally, they really were just friends. That moment – when the sparklers had sent new stars shimmering into the night sky and Travis had been so close to her – had just been so energy-charged that her thoughts had been twisted up into knots. Those feelings weren't really…well, _real_. Everything would be back to normal in the morning._

* * *

Katie frowned as she neared their campsite. She should've gone for it. She should've kissed him. Then maybe they would've dated for six months instead of pretending that what had happened on the Fourth hadn't happened and that they were just friends, nothing more. And maybe… She shook her head at herself. Regretting what had happened half-a-year ago was stupid. She needed to live in the present. As she walked into their camp, she only hoped that the Fourth of July had been as special to him as it had been to her, and that the things she'd bought him could bring that memory back to the surface.

Then Katie looked up and realized that Travis was nowhere in sight. Worse, a twelve-foot-tall monster with two gryphons on a leash was staring right at her. She cursed, something she rarely did (after all, every little kid at camp looked up to her, and she had to set a good example). "Hello, Demeter's daughter," the humanoid chuckled. "I've been waiting for you."

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**Dun dun dun... (again :P)**

**Only one more chapter to go, guys! :') Thank you so much for all the support this story has gotten! Reviews mean a lot to me, and I have loved each and every one I've received.**

**Okay, that's enough mush for this chapter. I'm sure I'll have plenty more in the author's note at the end of "Her Worries". :)**


	17. Her Worries

**It's the last chapter! Waaaaaahhhhhhh! :(**

**I suppose it's a bit symbolic... Summer's ending (I start school within the next week), and this story is too. D':**

**Thank you so so so much for all of the kind things you guys have said about this story! I'm glad we broke 100 reviews before it had to end. Congratulations to via-iris-message, the 100th reviewer!**

**The italics below the author's note are from last chapter - to refresh your memory, in case you somehow forgot what happened. ;)**

**And enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Nope, nope, nope. I own nothing and nobody. _Nobody: Odysseus pretended to be Nobody when fighting the Cyclops Polyphemus on his island..._ Ah! I'm turning into Ella the harpy! :P Well, I still own nothing. Except the plot.**

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_Then Katie looked up and realized that Travis was nowhere in sight. Worse, a twelve-foot-tall monster with two gryphons on a leash was staring right at her. She cursed, something she rarely did (after all, every little kid at camp looked up to her, and she had to set a good example). "Hello, Demeter's daughter," the humanoid chuckled. "I've been waiting for you."_

* * *

**Her worries:**

To be fair, Katie put up a decent fight. But the monster knew how she fought, carried a sword five times as long as her knife, and had two eight-foot-long bird-lions at his beck and call. She knew she'd lost before she'd started.

"Did you have to tie me up with these disgusting leashes?" she complained ten minutes later. "I mean, honestly, they're made of freaking _human flesh_. That's nasty."

"Oh, don't complain, daughter of Demeter," the monster growled. "Your life is too short to be grumbling constantly."

Katie fell silent. Really, she'd just been talking to take her mind off of her worries. For one, well, duh, she'd been captured by a giant man who was ruthless enough to have two ruthless gryphons for pets. For another, she didn't know what had happened to Travis. As far as she knew, the monster could've killed him and fed Travis to his pets already. Katie didn't know what she'd do if that was what had happened. She only prayed that he'd gotten away and that he wasn't stupid enough to come back. She was dead meat. But it was possible that he still had a chance.

"So, fat and ugly," she taunted, trying to keep the monster from possibly getting bored and going after the son of Hermes, "what are you? You don't have enough tattoos to be a Laistrygonian, you have too many eyes to be a Cyclops, and you're too small to be a real giant."

"I am Bargodus!" the monster roared. "Gaea has created me anew to keep the giants on track! Some of them may be smart, but they tend to fight among themselves like the Titans – family rivalries and all – and they have trouble working as a cohesive unit. I keep their eyes on the prize, so to speak, and am the very impressive _commander of the giants_!" He said the last part in a booming voice obviously intended to intimidate her.

"Aren't you a bit... _small_ for that? How do they respect you?"

"Bah, pesky demigod," Bargodus grumbled. She'd obviously hit a sensitive nerve of his. Katie didn't feel guilty in the least. "Gaea and my gryphons keep them in line if any dare oppose me."

"So what you're saying is that you aren't strong enough to have authority, so you have your mommy and your guard doggies do it for you," Katie said, attempting what she hoped was a sneer.

"You annoy me, plant-lover!" Bargodus howled. "I want to kill you, and do it now!"

"Then why don't you?" Katie asked smugly, secretly hoping the answer wouldn't be something like, _I don't know, actually. So I will. Die, daughter of Demeter!_

Luckily for her, it wasn't. "Because I want to bring that son of Hermes back here and watch the tormented look in your eyes as I torture him. Then I'll torture and kill you and watch the tormented look in _his_ eyes. Then I'll kill _him_! Oh, it will be glorious!"

He really was ruthless. "Lovely plan," Katie said, trying to keep the terror out of her voice, "but I see one flaw."

"Really?" He was amused. "Please, point it out."

"You'll have to catch that son of Hermes first."

"I have one of my pets tracking him down as we speak!" Bargodus proclaimed. "Although," he muttered as an afterthought, "Death really should have been back by now. But I'm sure he will not fail me…"

"You name your pets?" Katie questioned. "How... cute."

"They are _not_ cute!" he howled. "Their names are Death, Blood, and Torture!" _How imaginative, _Katie thought. "And Death is my finest track-and-capture gryphon! Your son of Hermes doesn't stand a chance!"

"Oh, I think he does," Katie said, silently praying, _Please let him stand a chance. Please let him stand a chance_. "You don't know him like I do."

"Ah, but you don't know my gryphons like I do," Bargodus retorted. "Still, though," he muttered, "it wouldn't hurt to send reinforcements. After all, the girl is secure..." He looked up at her and bellowed, "Still, though, it wouldn't hurt to send reinforcements! Torture! Go after the son of Hermes!" Nothing happened. No streak of lion-bird disappeared into the woods. "Torture! Go after-" Bargodus turned. The gryphons were gone. "Torture?"

"I'm afraid your pets won't be able to help you anymore," a voice yelled out from the trees. A voice Katie worried was oddly familiar. "You're on your own, Bargodus." And Travis – yes, _Travis_, he'd been stupid enough to come back for her after all (and she loved – er, hated him for it) – stepped out of the forest and charged the monster.

He should've stood as little a chance as Katie at defeating Bargodus. He didn't have any memories of sword fighting, so he shouldn't have been good at it. His ankle had been so badly sprained and swollen that he shouldn't have been able to stand or walk, let alone dodge attacks at lightning speed. He'd broken his right arm and shouldn't have even been able to hold a sword. But there he was, dancing around their camp, using his right arm and putting weight on his ankle like there was nothing wrong with them at all. He hadn't been injured yet – and Katie couldn't say the same for Bargodus. Ichor flowed from slashes on his arm and cuts on his back. They weren't serious, but they were _damage_. Best of all, Travis moved too quickly for Gaea to bog him down. Mud squelched at his shoes, but it could never grab hold. Katie never would've believed it, but he was actually _winning_. Needless to say, she was impressed.

Finally, finally, he managed to deliver a crushing blow to the back of Bargodus's head. He was temporarily out for the count, which gave Travis time to make his way over to her and cut at the leash until it broke. Suspended a few inches above the ground, Katie stumbled and fell straight into his arms when she was free. "Travis..." she said slowly, as she tried her best not to cry, "you idiot... you shouldn't have come back for me... What if he'd gotten you too?"

"But he didn't, Katie," Travis answered, "and that's what's important. Now come on. Are you going to help me fight him, or should I do this on my own?"

Katie took a deep breath, banishing any remnants of fear, and grinned at him. "Where's my knife? I think it's time I bring out my ninja-goddess side."

Honestly, Bargodus didn't stand a chance after that. He scratched them slightly a few times and bruised Katie's shoulder, but all in all, Katie thought that she and Travis did the most damage. It was pretty obvious after they'd scattered the commander of the giants into drifting golden dust.

When they were done, they just stared at each other for a moment. Then Katie ran and jumped into Travis's arms. "How... how did you... how are you...?"

"Not falling over with pain from my injuries?" Travis smiled. "Well, I ran pretty far into the woods when those things were chasing me, pretty much tuning out my ankle's very annoying screaming. But then I tripped over a tree root and one of Bargodus's gryphons tracked me down pretty easily. Luckily, I'd picked up my sword while sprinting. I stabbed it, it crumbled into dust, and I scattered its dust like you'd told me to so that it couldn't reform. Then I heard Bargodus – luckily that guy doesn't do quiet, really – say, 'Hello, Demeter's daughter, I've been looking for you,' and I knew you were in trouble. I had to help you out. So I picked up a giant stick with my not-broken arm and hobbled over here. It was a good thing you put up a fantastic fight, by the way. It kept the gryphons distracted long enough for me to find the canteen of nectar and drink it until I stopped feeling injured."

"So you risked the god-drink with magical properties after all?" Katie grinned. "I didn't have to waste thirty bucks on a splint and sling?"

"Ah, I'm sure we'll need them soon enough," Travis laughed. "After all, we're pretty accident-prone, right? Anyway, then it was simple to take the other gryphons out while you smart-mouthed Bargodus – nice job, by the way – and you know what happened after that."

"Mm-hm, yeah, I do," Katie smiled at him. "You saved my life."

"You would've done the same for me," Travis said, turning deep red. "It's no big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal," Katie answered. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Thank you for everything, Travis." Then she stepped back, looked at him, and decided to do what she should've done six months ago. She kissed him.

It lasted a long time, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed every millisecond. Then, finally, they broke apart, and Travis was holding her tightly and she didn't want him to ever let her go. She looked up at him nervously, biting her lip. He had a really strange look in his eyes. What was going through his head right now?

Her worries were reassured when it was his turn to whisper in her ear. "Well, you were conscious this time, at least."

For a second, the comment didn't register. Then her mouth dropped open slightly and she stared at him. "Travis? Your memories...?"

"Totally restored," he grinned. "Your kiss was magic."

"No," she said finally. "It was just the right stimulus to jog your memory." Then she kissed him again.

"Oh, Travis!" she said when they pulled apart for the second time. "I have something for you." She ran back to where she'd dropped everything when Bargodus had gotten her and picked up the packages she'd bought. Then she hurried back to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "70% cacao dark chocolate subtly flavored with orange zest? And sparklers?"

She shrugged. "That store had the randomest things. I mean, I walked past an aisle with all the flags of the world – there weren't any American ones, but he had plenty of Algerian and British and Swedish flags in stock. After that, I wasn't all that surprised when they had sparklers and chocolate together in aisle three." She smiled at him. "We don't have a picnic blanket, and it's the middle of winter, but it's nighttime... And besides, they have Christmas in July, right? Why can't we have Independence Day in December?"

He grinned back. "That sounds like a great idea." They lay down next to each other, opened a bar of 70% cacao dark chocolate subtly flavored with orange zest, and lit some sparklers (as a pyromaniac, Travis had a lighter on him at all times).

"You know, Katie," Travis said eventually, "how I gave you that spare sleeping bag?"

"Mm-yeah?" She said it vaguely, still wrapped up in the glow of the moment.

"Well, it wasn't a spare," he told her. "It was Nicholas's sleeping bag, and I bribed him to give it to me for a night so that you could use it."

"Really?" she looked up at him. His face was its usual tan shade – not bright red, like it went when he was lying. And the statement hadn't been said like a question. He was telling the truth. Katie only wondered why he'd waited so long. It wasn't like the sleeping bag's owner was a huge secret or anything. "And how did you do that?"

He shrugged. "He got my bed. I slept on the floor."

Katie glowed inside, even warmer than before, because she guessed it was a big deal after all. It meant that he'd cared about her six months ago, the same way she'd cared about him. They'd both just been too stubborn to admit it. Somehow, it made her feel better. "So... why are you telling me this now, anyway?" she asked nonchalantly.

He shrugged again. "I don't know. I just figured, couples aren't supposed to keep secrets, right? No matter how small?"

She smiled and leaned closer to him. "Oh, so we're a couple now?"

His face was an inch away from hers, and he was grinning that half-grin yet again. "I kind of thought that was what all the kisses meant." And he added one more to the list, as if to prove his point.

They were still two hundred miles from home, and more monsters could appear at any moment. But Katie refused to worry. For now, they were safe.

They were together.

And that was all that mattered.

* * *

**Once again, thank you thank you thank you for the reviews/favorites/follows! Each and every review brings a smile to my face, even if I don't respond to you personally. (Sorry about that, but I've been _really_ busy for the last couple of weeks and simply didn't have time. And I'll only get busier as school starts up again... :/) Thanks to all of you for reading this story faithfully! I look forward to keeping your readership for other stories! :)**

**Forever writing**,

**Storm**


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